


Brenda: Renewal

by slaysvamps



Series: Brenda Thompson Chronicles [6]
Category: World of Darkness (Games)
Genre: F/M, Half-Damned: Dhampyr, Halls of the Arcanum, Hunters Hunted, M/M, Mage: The Ascension - Freeform, Vampire: The Masquerade - Freeform, Werewolf: the Apocalypse - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-22
Updated: 2019-08-23
Packaged: 2020-09-24 05:48:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 20
Words: 50,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20353390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slaysvamps/pseuds/slaysvamps
Summary: In the midst of a Sabbat invasion, Brenda's sister comes to town. Caught in a web of intrigue, Brenda and Christina, along with some friends, end up in an alternate reality that is so different, yet eerily similar to their own.





	1. Homecoming

**Author's Note:**

> While we have used the names of some celebrities and their likenesses this is not a Backstreet Boys RPF. This work also borrows shamelessly from Buffy: The Vampire Slayer and the Anita Blake verse by Laurell K. Hamilton.
> 
> This story was written by a friend of mine and she should get all the credit. Unfortunately, she does not have an AO3 profile, so I can't tag her, but she knows who she is!

_If you intend to live again,_  
_then open your eyes and don’t pretend._  
_ 10,000 Maniacs - If You Intend_

### September 1999

My sister, Christina Strong, arrived in Salem around eight-thirty, two nights later. The Sabbat had been quiet, probably planning or executing their next move and laying extremely low during that time, which had all of us on edge. Christina had called me the night before her arrival and told me that her friend, Lady Lena Stockton, was once again safe and sound at home and apparently a new mother to boot. Getting her back hadn’t been easy, but they’d managed it, so I was grateful. Now she was free to complete her move and begin working on eliminating her blood bond to the Gangrel, Luke Thomas.

I was most surprised when she told me that she wouldn’t be alone. At first, I wondered if she’d gotten back together with Jason Kline, but that wasn’t who she was talking about. She’d found herself a ghoul on this latest adventure, named Frasier O’Connell. She mentioned that Jason might show up at some point in Salem, which left me wondering if I was ready to deal with my sister and her estranged lover in the same city, but adding a new ghoul to that mix as well? Didn’t I have enough to deal with?

Rafe and I were just coming downstairs when Christina and Frasier walked in the front door of the Chantry and I rushed to meet her.

“Christina!” I cried as I gave her a fierce hug that she returned in kind. After a moment, I pulled back and held her at arm’s length to ask, “How are you doing?”

“Better,” she smiled. “Better.” She looked somewhat tired if that were possible for a vampire and I once again found myself wishing I could make everything all right for her. I knew I couldn’t, but I could at least stand by her side as she moved on with her life.

Christina introduced me then to her ghoul. He was a good-looking man, around six feet tall with sandy brown hair that looked like it needed a trim. He had a large duffel bag on one shoulder and a cocky grin that immediately won me over.

“Brenda, this is Frasier O’Connell,” my sister started the introduction. “Frasier, this is my sister, Brenda Thompson.” I held out my hand and Frasier surprised me by kissing the back of it. Rafe had caught up with me by then and I looped my arm through his as I smiled up at him.

“This is my new…assistant,” I told my sister teasingly. “Rafael Brown.” As the three exchanged greetings, I took the time to check out Frasier’s aura. My sister was sometimes known to leap before she looked, and I thought it best to see how sincere this man was. To my absolute surprise, the colors of his aura were pale, which usually meant that he was a vampire, not mortal. Had Christina embraced him without telling me or was he pulling some kind of double-cross? Frasier may have been from another world, but that didn’t mean the Sabbat couldn’t get there was easily as Christina and her new friends had.

_Chris_, I said, establishing a mind link. _I thought you said you were just ghouling him?_

_I did, why?_ she thought back.

_Then why does his aura look like he’s Kindred?_

Her head turned quickly to study the man.

“What, do I have a booger on my nose?” he whispered when he realized Christina was staring at him.

“I have no idea why his aura is pale, Brenda,” Christina replied out loud. “It wasn’t like that when we were in Ramadan.” When I looked at his aura again, Frasier appeared worried and confused and totally surprised by our discovery. I was convinced for now that he posed no threat to the clan and suggested that we go in to meet the Prince. Let’s see what she had to say.

**~*~*~*~*~**

Elvira was in her sitting room with Alden and Micky. I quickly went to her side and kissed the ring on her outstretched hand then whispered in her ear what I knew about Frasier’s aura. She studied him intently as I made the introductions. She welcomed my sister and her new ghoul graciously and Alden was quick to offer to help Christina in any way during her stay in Salem. The meeting was over in a matter of minutes, but not before it was made clear that Christina was to meet Micky starting tomorrow night to work with him in security. That was going to be their way of helping her keep her mind off Luke Thomas and thus break the blood bond.

Micky walked us out and I asked him in the hallway if it would be possible for us to go over to the house on Elm Street. I knew Rafe and I needed more clothes and I thought Christina might want a few of her things I’d had sent there from Las Vegas. Micky had arranged for some werewolves to stay in case of any of more Sabbat trouble and only one of them knew the house belong to our kind.

“Of course,” he replied. “I’ll call the house and arrange for Elijah to be alone for a while. Is half an hour long enough for you to freshen up?” he asked Christina.

My sister nodded. “Sure.”

I led the way upstairs and stopped long enough to show Christina my suite that was across the hall from hers. “There’s an extra room through that door,” I said pointing at the room that had intended to be Rafe’s. “If you need to, you can store things there.”

Christina noticed the two wrapped presents on the bed in her room right away. “Is it Christmas all ready?” she asked with a grin. Christina was so different from me in many ways. I’d always been so focused on my goals that sometimes I forgot to just have fun. Christina was like that, finding joy in even the little things. We hadn’t spent much time together, but I was hoping this time she was going to spend in Salem would make up for that.

“Well, a couple of them rolled into one,” I replied with a smile.

She loved the new laptop and Frasier was impressed with the sword I’d managed to find with only a day’s notice. My adopted childe, Bruce Blackwell, had helped pick it out and had told me Frasier would need it balanced for proper use. Christina asked how Bruce was adjusting.

“Wonderfully,” I said.

Bruce had been born before the time of William the Conqueror. He’d been turned during battle by a vampire from a clan that normally were the shadow controlling leaders of the Sabbat, like Roger Campbell. Thankfully, Bruce had never been brought into one of their packs because he’d found and killed his sire before the battle was even over.

Bruce had returned home to his wife and lived as normal a life as possible, given his new existence, and it was during another battle years later when he had been seriously injured and fell into a torpor, a state of deep sleep that vampires sometimes when into in order to heal. His body had been protected for generations by his descendants as he slowly healed. Eventually, he was brought to the New World prior to the Revolutionary War and buried in the backyard of what would become the home of my friend, Rachel Black, a mage and the High Priestess of the Black Rose Coven.

Over a year and a half ago, when I participated in a yearly ritual the coven practiced that fed Bruce enough to stay alive, a small amount of my blood had been mixed with the other members that helped to finally revive the man whom I then took under my wing as a childe. Since then, Bruce had needed help to understand how different the world had become since the time he’d fallen, but he was adjusting beautifully had was now a favorite of Elvira’s. I was proud of him and loved him dearly.

“Perhaps he could help us out with O’Connell,” Christina suggested.

“Elvira did mention something about that,” I replied. “At least Frasier hasn’t been in the ground for a thousand years.”

That had been a great challenge with Bruce, how to explain things so he understood. He’d had no concept about running water much less computers or the Internet after he’d risen from his years in torpor. Christina was lucky that Frasier came from a technologically advanced society, even though it was a reality that was very different from our own.


	2. Will You?

_You are before me, sweet man,_   
_and I am thinking_   
_aren’t I supposed to give up_   
_everything?_   
_ Jewel - Second Thoughts in Columbus, Ohio_

Christina remembered the Bathori Mansion, even though some of those memories were of the dungeon and when the previous Prince of the city, Beth Bathori, had held her there. When we arrived, I directed her and Frasier to the room where I’d had her things dropped off while I went into the living room.

The thought had occurred to me on the way over to the house that if there were werewolves staying in my haven, maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to leave my ‘family’ pictures out for all to see. Micky had assured me that the weres wouldn’t know they were house sitting for a vampire, but just in case the secret was let out, I didn’t want pictorial evidence left out to make a hit list. Besides, I wanted the memories of those I loved to be with me at the chantry while we stayed there.

“What are you doing?” Rafe asked behind me. I thought he had gone upstairs with Christina and Frasier.

“I wanted to bring these back with us,” I said. I had just gathered up the last frame in my arms and was reaching for the drawer knob when I saw a look of concern cross Rafe’s face. He knew that the picture of Michael was the only thing held in that drawer and I figured he thought I meant to take it with me and didn’t like the idea. I understood his obvious distress, but I hadn’t intended on taking the picture with me, just put it somewhere safe. “Ready to go up?” I asked once the frame was in my arm with the others. Rafe only nodded and followed me to our room.

**~*~*~*~*~**

I dropped the frames on the bed when we entered and quickly shuffled through them to pull out Michael’s picture. Rafe was standing by the fireplace, studying my movements. He hadn’t said anything on the way upstairs and I knew he was watching to see what I did with the frame, if I put it in the bag with the others or if I left it behind.

I took the picture of my lost love and put it in a dresser drawer in the bathroom and saw the intense relief that rushed over Rafe. He felt secure again. I knew he had nothing to worry about when it came to my affections, but words weren’t enough to reassure him.

“Do you have anything you needed to pick up before we go?” I asked casually when I came back into the bedroom.

Rafe smiled as he crossed the room and swept me off the floor and into his strong arms. “No, I’ve got all I need right here.”

I laughed as I put my arms around his neck and kissed him. I understood he needed to feel secure and I also knew that he was what I needed, now more than ever. He was constant and sure and meant the world to me. The kiss deepened quickly, and I knew where it was leading. “Wait a minute,” I said breathlessly, pulling back. He was breathing hard, too.

“It only takes a minute,” he said breathlessly, claiming my mouth again. His tongue was lapping at my lips, easing them apart again, then entering to slide along my own.

A small cry slipped from my throat as I broke away again and rested my forehead against his. “You’re incorrigible.”

“You’re the tempting one,” he threw back with a throaty laugh.

“I am?”

“Yes, you are.” His head moved to kiss me again, but I pulled back and pushed on his chest. Reluctantly, he returned my feet to the floor, but still held me close.

“Do you need to pick up any _clothing_?” I ask pointedly. When Rafe started to reach for the hem of my shirt with a grin, I stepped back from him and pushed his hands away, laughing. “And not my blouse, either.”

Rafe pretended petulance. “I guess I could pick up a few things. Razors and stuff.” He moved toward the bathroom and when he passed, I pinched his butt. He turned to me and pointed his finger at me. “Hey, I thought we weren’t going there.”

“I wasn’t,” I replied innocently, turning to leave the room without another word.

**~*~*~*~*~**

When we got back to our rooms at the chantry, Rafe and I started pulling out the things we had brought back with us to put them away. I unpacked my picture frames and put them on the dresser, remembering Rafe’s unease about Michael. Maybe now would be a good time to talk about it.

“You were quiet earlier at the house,” I remarked.

“I’m quiet sometimes,” Rafe commented with a shrug. I think he knew where I was going and didn’t want to make the discussion easy.

I turned to lean against the dresser so I could watch him. “I’ve noticed. Is everything okay?”

He only shrugged again. “It’s not okay for me to be quiet sometimes?”

“That’s fine, but I’ve noticed that the times you’ve been quiet are odd.” Rafe was trying to act as if he had no idea what I was talking about, but I couldn’t let the subject to. “Did you take drama in school?” I asked suddenly, trying to throw him off.

Rafe’s face contorted in question. “What?”

My plan had worked. I’d unsettled him. “Did you act in school?” I asked, drawing my words out.

“I was in a play or two, why?”

I crossed my arms over my chest and shrugged a shoulder. “You’re not doing a very good job of it.”

Rafe laughed as he came over and pulled me in his arms. “It’s just been really stressful this last week or so. There’s been a lot going on and sometimes I just think about things.”

“Like…” I prodded, resting my hands on his shoulders.

“Things.” I didn’t like his answer, so I slipped my arms around his waist and dropped my hands to his buttocks to give them a quick squeeze. He smiled, “I thought you were supposed to go over and talk to Christina, this is not the way to do it.”

“Well, I wanted to take a few minutes to talk to you first.” _Can’t you just open up to me,_ I silently asked him.

“What do you want to talk about?”

“Rafael Scott Brown,” I huffed in frustration and Rafe didn’t miss a beat.

“Brenda Marie Thompson.”

We stood in silence for a minute before he sighed and continued. “Sometimes with all the stuff that’s going on I… I don’t know how to explain it. I think about things and I just - I don’t want you to think that you’ve made the wrong choice.”

“Don’t doubt how important you are to me,” I said imploringly. Didn’t he understand that yet? Didn't he know that I would give my life for him?

But Rafe wasn’t making eye contact. “I don’t doubt that I’m important to you, but I know that other people were important to you in the past and I sometimes wonder if they won’t be important to you again.”

I knew he was talking about Michael; it was very obvious. “I’m going to remind you again of what I told you that night in the basement. Do you remember?”

Rafe sighed. “I know that Michael’s not here, but he is in town and he wants back in your life.”

He still wasn’t looking at me and I understood how uncomfortable this conversation was, but I wanted to eliminate his doubts about my commitment to our relationship.

“Possession is nine-tenths of the law,” I replied quietly, trying to catch his gaze.

Rafe chuckled a little then and pulled me closer, “Then I guess, legally, you’re mine. Well, not quite legally, but maybe someday.”

I froze for at least thirty seconds at what he was implying, then pulled away from his chest and looked deep in his eyes, astonished. “What?” he asked.

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

“Nothing,” he said quickly, pulling back a step or two. His cheeks were pink with embarrassment.

“Rafe,” I said, threateningly, moving closer to him again.

“What?” he repeated.

“God, don’t make me pull this out of you.”

“Well, we really haven’t known each other that long and … I don’t know. I just liked the way Mrs. Brown sounded the other night. I-I liked it.” He reached up to play with a lock of my hair, avoiding my eyes.

“Oh my God,” I breathed before I realized I was speaking. “I never would have gone there.”

Rafe’s hand dropped and his face went slack. He took another step back and I realized I said the wrong thing. I stepped with him, not letting him pull away. “What I mean is… It’s just something that I never thought any of my kind would do.” I knew it sounded lame, but I was too stunned to be witty.

“Vampires don’t get married?” Rafe sounded as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

“Not that I know of, but maybe,” I answered quickly. “I don’t know. That would be kinda cool. What would, like, a hundred-year anniversary be? What would you do? Would that be platinum?” I was babbling, but I couldn’t help it. The idea was appealing, even if it sounded strange. Did Micky and Sarah have thoughts like this?

Rafe laughed uncomfortably. “You know, your sister is probably expecting you.”

“Right,” I mumbled, lost in thoughts of white dresses and flowers.

“Christina is probably waiting for you,” Rafe said pointedly, trying to pull my attention away from my dreamy thoughts. “You know, Chris? Across the hall?”

I blinked. “What? I'm sorry.”

“You know the chick across the hall with the big guy? You know.”

“Right.”

“She’s probably waiting for you, it’s been ten minutes, you said five.”

I stood on tiptoe and kissed his full lips, “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“You made my night.”

He was barely holding back a grin. “By reminding you your sister was waiting for you?”

“No, I don’t think that’s what it was,” I said as I turned and left the room.

**~*~*~*~*~**

When Rafe and I returned to our suite at the chantry near dawn, I undressed methodically for bed, my thoughts returning to the half proposal of marriage Rafe had made earlier. Had he been serious? I wanted to ask him about it so badly that I was almost bursting with anticipation.

“What do you think of Frasier?” I asked, trying to avoid the real question that threatened to escape my lips as I put my dirty clothes away.

“He seems nice.” Rafe sounded sincere and much to my dismay, he looked as if he had totally forgotten the conversation we had only a few hours ago. “He’s very funny,” he added with a grin.

His calm was going to be my undoing.

“He is,” I agreed. “Did you have any problems with the Sega?” I had to bite my lip to keep the other question in my mind from being blurted out. Christina had bought the gaming system for her ghoul and the two men had spent a great deal of timing playing.

“No. Not at all.” He was putting away his clothes, too.

“Did you like Chris?” I was trying to keep my tone and the conversation even, but I had no idea how I was doing. My mind was a buzz. I did want him to have a good relationship with my sister and her ghoul. After all, we were going to be together for the next year. It seemed a good, neutral topic to talk about.

“Of course, I do. She’s great.” He glanced at me briefly as I bent to retrieve my shoes from the floor where I had kicked them off.

“Were you serious about asking me to marry you?” I blurted out, shoes in hand and desperation on my face. I had tried not to ask, but curiosity got the better of me.

“Yes,” Rafe replied nonchalantly as he entered the bathroom. I had no idea how he could be so casual about it.

I felt rooted in place, my limbs were heavy, and I had made no move to put away the pair of shoes I still held in my hands.

When Rafe entered the room again he asked, “Did she get settled in okay?” How could he be talking about Christina at a time like this? I wanted to scream.

“Yes,” I said weakly, still not moving. _Hello - elaborate, please_, I barely stopped myself from vocalizing.

Rafe must have finally noticed that I hadn’t moved for a minute or two and came to stand in front of me. Waving a hand in front of my face, he said, “Brenda.” I looked at him imploringly, but all he did was take the shoes from my hands and put them away himself. That done, he stood beside the bed and said, “It’s getting late. Are you coming to bed?”

“No.” I wanted to grab him and shake some sense into him.

“No,” he repeated, a sly smile appearing on his lips. “You want to do something else?” he suggested, moving toward me and taking my hand.

“No,” I sounded desperate and I hated the effect this was having on me. I was weak and I knew that, given enough prodding, I would do whatever he wanted. I felt as if I was the one blood bonded and not him. “I want to talk about this,” I ended weakly.

“About what?” Rafe was pulling me to the bed. When we got there, he sat down and I stood between his legs.

“You know what,” I said looking down at him and I could tell he knew what I was talking about. Again, the hesitation. His eyes were the clearest green I had ever seen, and I longed for the time when I would know what every color variation meant. What did he do when he was nervous or expectant? Would he pace or chew his nails?

After a moment, Rafe took a deep breath and asked, “Is there something wrong with it?” He was as desperate for answers now as I had been when we entered the room. I dropped to my knees in front of him and regarded him evenly.

“I don’t know,” I said reaching up to touch his cheek. His hand came up to cover mine. “I’ve heard of those of my kind being together for a long time, but as far as actual marriage, no. It’s not something I have ever heard of.”

“You’ve never heard of vampires marrying each other, but what about a vampire marrying a ghoul?”

He naturally thought I had all the answers, but about this I was clueless. “Neither,” I said simply.

“Is there someone you can ask?”

I smiled at his trust. “I’ll talk to Micky tomorrow.”

“Okay,” Rafe said, looking at the clock. “Ten minutes. Do you want to talk more, or do you want to go to sleep?”

My smile widened as I reached over and shut off the light.


	3. Where Are You, My Love?

_There’s desperation in the air_   
_it leaves a stain on all your clothes_   
_and no detergent gets it out._   
_ Meatloaf - Life is a Lemon and I Want My Money Back_

Rafe was seated on the bed next to me when I awoke, and I turned over to find a smile on his face. “Hi,” I said.

“Hey.” He leaned over to give me a quick kiss. “Sleep well?”

“Like the dead,” I replied dryly. “What did you do today?”

“Hung out with Frasier,” he said moving to lay beside me. “He’s pretty amazing. Hey, I heard the group that Christina was with in Austria is coming here.”

“Really? I wonder if Jason is with them.”

He shook his head. “I don’t know. I heard there was at least one woman and the rest were men.”

“Wow,” I commented, surprised and hopeful at the same time. “That would be great if he came for her.”

“Yeah.” Rafe was studying me intently, desire quite apparent in those green eyes. I leaned forward to kiss him and his hand cupped the back of my neck to deepen it. He rolled over on top of me and began to kiss a trail across my face to my ear lobe. One thing led to another and later, when we were done, Rafe suggested I get dressed because Christina would be looking for me before going off with Micky to start her first night in the security detail.

I was just getting into the shower when Rafe stuck his head in the door to the bedroom. “I’m going to go get something to eat with Frasier,” he said.

“Okay.” I went to the door and planted a quick kiss to his lips. “Come back to me,” I told him passionately.

“Brenda,” he began with a laugh, “I’m just going across the hall.”

“I know.” I shook my head quickly and kissed him again before he shut the door. I showered quickly and was just pulling on my robe when the bathroom went black. Blindly, I made my way to the bedroom and found it too had lost power. I groped for the gun I had put in the nightstand the previous morning and prepared to exit when I heard gunfire coming from the front of the chantry. It sounded heated, but I was more concerned about Christina and Rafe.

I barely made it to the door of my suite when the lights came back on. I continued out into the hall and across to the door to my sister’s suite. The door opened as I neared, and Frasier stuck his head out. He looked very distressed about something, which struck me as funny because Christina had led me to believe he was a seasoned fighter. “Is everyone okay in there?” I asked.

“Something very weird is going on,” he said between clenched teeth. He was looking up and down the hall as if he expected a specter of some kind to appear at any moment. I also noticed he held a very large handgun in his left hand that looked as if it had been modified in some way.

“What are you talking about?” I was beginning to feel alarmed. Where were Christina and Rafe?

“Come in here.” He reached out with his right hand and grabbed my upper arm to pull me into the room. I heard the door close behind me, but I only felt relief to see Rafe standing across the room. He was dressed differently than he had been when he’d left our suite, which confused me further, and he was visibly upset.

“Did you change your clothes after I got into the shower?” I asked as I started to cross the room to him.

Rafe’s gaze fell on me and I saw relief in his eyes. “Brenda, where the hell are we? What’s going on?”

I stopped dead in my tracks, not sure what was going on. Rafe was speaking with a Spanish accent. Was he playing a trick or something?

“What do you mean, what's going on?” I glanced at Frasier, but his expression had turned from alarm to almost anguish. “We’re at the Chantry.”

“The what?” he asked, looking around in confusion.

I took a few more steps closer to him and noticed that his mustache and goatee were gone. “Did you shave too?” I was only about six feet from him now.

Rafe’s confusion only grew. “What are you talking about, Brenda? Where the hell are we?”

“Rafe.” A tone of desperation entered my voice. What was going on around here?

“We heard a noise outside,” Frasier said from behind me. I turned to listen to his explanation. “And the three of us went to check it out. There was this car down there and the guys down front were firing at the car. I went in to get my gun and when I came back, Christina was gone and Rafe was like this.”

I didn’t understand what was happening. I had a firm hold on my emotions, but I knew at any moment my control could snap. “Where is Christina?” I asked very slowly.

“You tell me,” Frasier sounded lost. I knew the blood bond between him and Christina was complete, and I understood his reaction. I turned back to Rafe and closed the remaining few feet that separated us. When I stood in front of him, I touched his face and studied his eyes, looking for answers that I hoped were there.

He jumped when my fingers came into contact with his skin. “Jesus you’re cold. What did you do, go outside?”

That was all I needed to know. I dropped my hand and took a step back. I could feel my face and heart harden as I continued to take him in. “Who are you and what are you doing here?” My tone was the harshest I had ever heard it. I was beginning to feel violated again, like when we found the cameras and listening devices at my house.

“Brenda, you know me.” Rafe’s hands flashed in front of him in rapid tension. “You’ve known me for years. I live right next door to you.”

This was so not right. “I have not known you for years,” I replied coldly. “I’ve known you for two weeks.”

Rafe’s face screwed up in confusion. “Hello. I live in the same duplex as you do.”

I shook my head. “I don’t live in a duplex.”

“I don’t know what drugs you’re taking, Brenda, but we live on the same street in Nashville,” this Rafe-that-wasn’t-my-Rafe insisted, using hand gestures that I’d never seen my Rafe use. “You live on one side of the duplex and I live on the other. We’ve lived there for three years and I’ve known you for four.”

“You’re not in Nashville,” I turned to the other man in the room. “Frasier, go get Elvira or Micky, I don’t care which, whoever you find first.”

Frasier nodded slowly as he started to back his way toward the door. “Okay. Do you have any idea where Christina is?”

“No, but I’m going to find out.”

“Okay,” he holstered his weapon and left the room. The tight control I was keeping on my emotions failed me and I felt tears well up in my eyes and my shoulders begin to shake. My hands went immediately to my face to cover the blood tracks I knew would soon streak my face. I had no control over the situation, and I didn’t know what to do or what the hell happened to Christina or Rafe, but I knew I would get them back. At the core of this, I felt Michael. What had he and the Sabbat done now?

“Brenda, what is the matter? You know me.” Rafe’s tone was pleading. He sounded like he felt concerned for my well-being, but I couldn't help but feel put off by his mere presence. I felt him come up beside me and as he tried to place a reassuring hand on my shoulder, I backed away and dropped the hand that covered my tear stained face. I raised the gun in my hand.

“Who put you up to this?” I asked coldly.

I backed up even as Rafe was making his way forward. “What the fuck happened to you?” he asked vehemently, noticing the bloody tear stains on my face.

“Nothing. What have you done with my Rafe?”

“Jesus, you’re a vampire and nothing happened to you? It was The Spaniard, wasn’t it? I told you to stay away from him.”

Who in the hell was The Spaniard? And what did he have to do with me being a vampire? Maybe he was talking about Antonio, he was Spanish, but I had never heard of anyone call him The Spaniard. “Who are you talking about?” I was so confused my head was spinning.

Rafe started talking to himself. “This is so weird. I was in my living room, listening to the radio and then I'm on this balcony with a gunfight going on below me. Will you tell me what the hell is going on?”

This last part was directed toward me, but unfortunately, I didn’t have any answers. “You were supposed to be - no, no -” I stumbled. Then I stopped to regroup my thoughts. “Rafe was supposed to get something to eat with Frasier. Christina -”

“Was that the guy that was in here?” Rafe asked, pointing his thumb toward the door Frasier had gone through. “Christina? What the hell would she be doing here?”

So, he did know something about the people that should have been here. I had to focus, so I could get the information out of him that I needed and fix this.

“She’s my sister,” I said, studying his reaction.

“It was The Spaniard, wasn’t it?” Rafe said, matter-of-factly. “When did this happen? I just saw you two nights ago.”

“I just saw you five minutes ago.” Here came the ultimate test. “Did the same people get a hold of him that got Michael?”

“Where’s Michael?” His tone was too even to be my Rafe. He sounded concerned about the other man’s well-being, not the jealousy that Rafe usually felt about Michael.

“I have no idea. I suppose you know him, too.”

“Yeah,” he replied, incredulously. Then came the bomb. “He lives next door with you.”

That knowledge was more than I could handle right now. I was absolutely stunned. Michael and I together? And the knowledge coming from Rafe? What kind of game was this guy playing? I needed time to regroup my thoughts. I went to the closed door that led to the hallway and opened it, looking for the familiar face of Elvira or Micky coming to help me keep my sanity.

What I got was an entire group of people heading toward me. Micky, Bruce, Frasier, and Jason Kline, along with a woman and two men I didn't know came up to the door I clung to like a lifeline. I only really saw Micky and Bruce for the moment. Normally, the knowledge of Jason being here would have brought relief to me for Christina’s sake, but now she was missing and so was my lover. I had no other eyes right now.

Upon seeing blood on my face, Bruce came immediately to my side, concern printed plainly on his face. Micky looked troubled as well and asked, “Brenda, what's wrong?”

“Micky, get in here. Something is really wrong.” I opened the door wide enough to let him and Frasier in and they entered. I closed the door soundly behind them, not taking the time to respond to Bruce or take in the newcomers in the hall. I turned and found that the man who looked like my ghoul had retreated to the corner of the room where a table and four chairs stood close to a window.

No sooner had I closed the door then it opened again. “We need a minute,” I said blindly and promptly slammed it shut again. Whoever it was that wanted in was persistent and the door opened yet again. “We need a minute,” I hissed through clenched teeth and slammed the door again, even harder this time.

“That guy is hell bent,” I heard Micky say behind me as I slammed the door shut a second time. “What's going on?”

My self-control was almost nil at that point. I waved the Glock that I still had in my left hand and said almost hysterically, “Do you see anything different about him? That is not Rafe. Christina is gone.”

“What do you mean?” Micky was stunned. “Where did she go?”

“I don't know.” Tears started in my eyes again. “You need to talk to him because he thinks he knows me.”

“I do know you, Brenda,” the man across the room said.

“It’s not right, Micky,” I said shaky.

“I live in Nashville,” Rafe started his story again. “And Brenda and Michael live next door...” If I had to hear the whole thing a second time I was going to scream.

“You’re not in Nashville,” I repeated.

“Where am I?” His tone signified that he was beginning to believe something that couldn’t be real.

I was finally beginning to get a hold of myself. “You’re in Salem, Massachusetts. Look out that window, do you see anything that looks like Nashville?” I knew he would be able to hear the ocean from that window and that alone would be a tell-tale sign. His face slackened.

“Jesus, what happened?” His reaction seemed conducive to someone who didn’t know what was going on around him. Unfortunately, my wits weren’t about me, or I would have thought to check his aura. Micky could tell I was upset so he came to my side and sat me on a couch that dominated one wall of the room, across from where this Rafe looked out the window.

“Just chill,” he told me, calmly. “Let me talk to him. We’ll figure this out.” Micky then turned to Frasier and asked him what happened. Frasier reviewed the events again for Micky, giving him quick and concise descriptions.

“Sounds like Akari did some kind of ritual that may have switched the two of them,” Micky said when Frasier had finished. To himself he asked, “Where’s Christina?” Then to Rafe he asked, “Do you know Christina Strong?”

“Christina is dead,” Rafe said simply.


	4. New Arrivals

_Fine place for a day full of breakdowns_   
_ Stone Temple Pilots - Meatplow_

I felt as if someone slammed me in the chest. Christina was dead? How? Who? I looked to Frasier and saw that he was as shocked as I was. The door to the room flew open and Jason entered, his eyes were glowing red like an animal's in a headlight beam at night. He quickly took a look around the room and immediately shrieked back from something, falling to the floor and covering his face with his trench coat.

The beautiful Hispanic woman I saw earlier popped her head in from the hall and I got to my feet. That must be Nina Rodriguez, I thought to myself, briefly remember the vampires my sister had recently met. I was about to greet the woman, but she quickly moved back into the hallway. A second later, a man dressed like a priest entered the room and left as fast as Nina had. He must be Cormac’s nephew, Stephen, I thought, trying to understand the strange behavior of these newcomers.

My head was swimming with the knowledge that Christina and Rafe were missing and the strange behavior of these two people wasn’t helping my frame of mind. The last man who came into the room headed straight to the opposite wall. He stopped in front of me and introduced himself quickly. “You must be Christina’s sister. I am Cormac,” he said and shook my hand, then continued to the wall and removed a large mirror that hung there and put it on the floor, reflection side to the wall.

“Do you not like the mirror?” Micky asked ironically, having watched the scene from where he still stood close to our other world visitor.

“My nephew has a deformity,” Cormac explained. “It would be best left unseen.” Christina was right, this man used few words to get his point across. Micky simply nodded as if he understood what Cormac was talking about, even though I didn't, and returned his attention to Rafe. The priest, Stephen, entered the room again and went to stand quietly next to his uncle.

Rafe looked tense at the arrival of the newcomers and Frasier was about to bounce out of his skin with worry over his new mistress. He was pacing back and forth in much the same way I had seen Christina pace many times before. I was back in control of my senses and I knew there were questions to be answered.

“Okay,” I said approaching Rafe again. “Let's sit down and talk about this. There has to be a rational explanation.” I indicated the table that Rafe still stood next to and he sat, gratefully. “Frasier,” I said turning my attention to him, “I understand how you’re feeling. I feel the same way.”

“No, you don't,” he said, but sat on the trunk at the end of Christina’s bed and fidgeted with a string that hung from his pant leg.

Rafe seemed to be taking in everything. “What is this a freaking convention?”

“What are you talking about?” I asked taking a chair across from him. Micky moved to stand behind me.

He pointed around the room as he spoke. “Vampire, vampire, vampire, - and that’s a werewolf,” he said when he reached Stephen.

“Glad to see you have the same abilities,” I said with a slight smile, filing the information of what the priest was way in my mind then turning my attention to Micky accusingly.

“I knew he was coming,” he told my before I could say anything. “Sorry, I forgot to tell you.”

“Where's Elvira?” I asked.

“I’ll go find her,” Bruce offered and left the room post haste. I was vaguely aware of Cormac moving about the room while Jason was still recoiling in his trench coat on the floor. When Cormac reached the bedside table, I noticed that he picked something up and held it for a while, then placed it in the table's drawer. After that, Jason rose to his feet as if nothing odd had happened and shook his coat lapels to resettle the garment on his shoulders.

“Tell us everything that happened before you ended up here,” I said, giving Rafe my full attention.

“What, from when I was born or what?” His voice had a cocky edge I hadn’t ever heard out of my Rafe.

Jason came forward and said menacingly through clenched teeth, “Tell her what she wants to know.”

“Hey, I’m trying to get a starting point. What a month ago? Two weeks? Five minutes?”

“Five minutes.”

“I was in my living room listening to music with my headphones,” Rafe began. “Then I was on a balcony. This guy, Frasier came out and asked me where Christina was.”

“Did you feel anything funny?” I asked. “Did you see anything?”

“The Rafe that's supposed to be here,” he replied, uncomfortably, “you and he are…” he trailed off hesitantly.

“Yes.” My voice was low and full of emotion. I knew I had to keep as much of my feelings hidden as possible. Excess emotions only tended to make high stress situations worse and I knew that wouldn’t help to find Rafe and Christina.

“Hmm.” He looked away for a moment and when he returned his eyes to mine, he asked, “Is Sam alive?” By his tone I could tell that something had to have happened to his sister, Samantha, in his world and that it wasn’t good.

I nodded. “Yes. Why wouldn't she be?”

He ignored my question and asked another of his own. “And he’s not gay?” I could only think that he referred to my Rafe.

“He’s kind of both,” I said lowly, not really wanting to discuss this in front of anyone. Rafe’s sexual tendencies were his own, even though I was talking to his double.

He seemed to take everything in stride. “So, why is Jason on the other side?” He nodded to the man my sister loved more than anyone else.

“Who said we were good or bad?” I asked astonished. _How much did he know about my kind in his world,_ I wondered.

“You’ve told me that quite often.” He sounded familiar, like the Rafe I knew and loved, but he lacked the quality in his tone when you talked about someone you loved.

“And so, has he,” Rafe nodded his head toward Jason. It was beginning to bother me that he kept referring to me as the Brenda he knew, but I pushed the nagging aside, knowing the need for knowledge was more important than my agitation.

“Do you know him?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Rafe said with a tug of irony. “He taught you to hunt. He was your friend, but he is dead now.”

“I hunted long ago,” Jason said lowly and to himself. He was close to my side, intent as I was on the circumstances Rafe was laying out before us. I had no knowledge of him ever hunting, but at least his past linked with our alternate selves somewhat, unlike mine.

My head was swimming with unasked questions. Who killed Christina? What circumstances led to the other me becoming a hunter? How did I meet Jason? No matter how badly I wanted answers to my questions I knew I would have to wait, if I even got a chance to ask them. Hopefully, Elvira knew of some ritual that would put everything right again because I knew that I couldn’t handle losing Rafe so soon after finding him, not to mention what losing Christina would mean.

“Do you hunt as well?” I asked Rafe.

“Oh, no. I just live next door. You're the one with a license.”

“For what?”

“To kill vampires,” he said matter-of-factly.

“What is the government in on this?” Jason asked disbelievingly.

Rafe blinked and looked at Jason as if he should know the answer. “Yes, for several years now.”

I glanced to Micky, not sure whether to believe what I was hearing. “What happened to the Masquerade?” I asked. Micky simply shrugged his shoulders, as confused as I was.

“Why don’t we all go to the library or something?” Jason suggested. “That way maybe we can come up with a way to put everything right.” I regarded him for a moment, relieved at the concern I found in his features. I knew then that he loved or at least had strong feelings for Christina just by the way he held himself. He was tense all over, ready to snap or jump at the slightest provocation. I prayed we got her back for his sake.

“Good idea,” I said, standing. “Let’s wait for Elvira and then go downstairs.”

I glanced to the doorway just in time to see the Prince of Salem arrive. She was a regal woman, tall and stately. Stephen, the Lupine priest stood in the doorway, unaware that someone had come up behind him. “Excuse me,” she said coolly. Stephen jumped a little and moved to the side, muttering a low apology. She entered the room, Bruce a step behind, and studied the newcomers for a moment. “When did you arrive?” she asked no one in particular.

“Just a few minutes ago,” Nina replied for the group.

“Somebody want to explain?” Her attention now rested on Micky and me.

“My Prince,” I started, “through means by which we have no idea, it seems as if there has been some sort of shifting going on here. This person is not the Rafael Brown we know.”

“Shifting, huh?” Her tone was even as she took in the room and all those in it.

I nodded. “Yes. And Christina is gone as well.”

“She went where?”

“I think she must have shifted, too. Rafe said that in his world she is dead. So, if there’s no one for her to switch with that would explain why there isn't a version of her here.” It was the only thing that made sense.

“Who killed Christina?” Cormac asked as he approached the table. When he got close, Rafe stiffened and made to rise. Cormac must have understood his apprehension and stopped his advance.

Rafe didn't verbally answer the question but looked at me evenly. It took only a few seconds for the realization to dawn on me. Of course, it all made sense now. In the other world I was a hunter and it would stand to reason that if Christina was dead it was me who killed her. It was a hard fact for me to face. Christina and I may not have the closest relationship, but I knew I would give my life for her, just like I would for Elvira or Micky or Rafe. They are my family and I would do anything to ensure their safety.

“Can we fix this?” I asked Elvira. “Can we bring them back?”

Elvira was quiet for a long moment. “There is nothing in the library, but I have heard of it.” She paused, then added, “I can see where Akari would use it.”

The Sabbat presence in the city led to many of us only recently learning that Akari was Elvira’s ex-lover and vampire progeny. The two had fought many years ago and he’d left her. Now he was a member of the malicious pack trying to take over the city and it seemed like he was probably a deciding factor in them targeting Salem to begin with.

“Where can we find the ritual?” I asked Elvira.

“We’d have to find Akari,” she sighed simply.

“Give me five minutes to change,” I said as I nodded to her and left quickly, going across the hall to the room I had shared with Rafe. I pulled on the first pair of pants and shirt I could find. My hair was almost dry now and I pulled it back in a high ponytail on the top of my head. I saw that Rafe’s jacket still hung on the back of a chair in the room and I slipped it on, needing the slight comfort of his presence that it afforded. I didn’t see his guns and holsters anywhere, so I assumed that he had them on his person.

I opened my door in just under the five minutes I allotted myself and found Nina coming down the hall. She was coming from the direction of the stairs, so I thought she must have gone to the main floor for something.

“I was sent to get the others,” she said. “There’s been a delivery.” My heart sank. Please no more roses, I thought to myself.

“For who?” I asked.

“I’m not sure.” Nina seemed like a really nice person in the small amount of time I’d been around her and I hoped that I would get the opportunity to get to know her after this whole mess was settled.

We reentered Christina’s room to find Jason on the floor where he appeared to be meditating. Stephen and Cormac were standing by a bedside table. I saw Stephen pick up a frame that held a picture of Jason and in a blink of an eye they both disappeared.

What the hell? I was just about to say something when they reappeared as quickly as they had vanished, and Stephen returned the frame to the table.

“Micky, what in the hell's going on in here?” I asked none too nicely. “Some kind of guru meeting?” I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I couldn’t believe these strangers would come into a chantry they hadn’t been to before and just begin to rearrange things and disappear like they had been born here. This was utter insanity.

“There is something hanging around Jason that he can kind of see and now Cormac can, too,” Micky explained. “Use Auspex.”

At this point I was too upset to even attempt the concentration I would need to try. I remembered that the Rafe that was here from another dimension shared my Rafe’s ability to see supernatural creatures, so I went to his side and dropped to my haunches next to him. “What do you see?” I asked.

“It’s a ghost,” he said simply as he squinted as if to get a better look. “It’s Christina and she’s really pissed.”

“What is she doing?”

“Running from him,” he said, indicating Cormac. I looked up as he asked Nina to step into the hallway and opened the drawer to pull out Christina’s cross. Again, I was amazed at the liberties this man thought he could take with other people’s things, especially Christina’s. Then they disappeared again.

All of a sudden, I saw Jason fall onto his back as if he had been pushed and I asked if he was all right.

“Yeah,” he said with a cough as I moved to help him to his feet. He was visibly shaken, and I pulled a chair close for him to sit in as Cormac and Stephen appeared again. Cormac was off balance and fell to one knee, catching himself with the hand that still held Christina’s cross.

“What in the hell is going on?” I demanded.

“Yes, please share,” Micky added.

Cormac rose slowly and settled his jacket on his shoulders. Frasier seemed to realize that someone was touching his mistress’ possessions and he jumped to his feet.

“What the hell are you doing with her stuff?” he demanded harshly.

“That was not our Christina,” Cormac replied calmly.

“Yeah, well that’s my Christina’s stuff and I don’t think you need to have your fingers on it.” Frasier looked like he was about to be pushed over the edge and I could tell that Jason hadn’t liked Frasier’s possessiveness over my sister. In fact, when I looked at him his eyes were glowing red again and there were claws extending from each of his fingers.

Frasier saw this as well and pulled his gun from its holster and held it at his side.

“Okay,” I said raising my hands to stop an attack before it happened, “There’s some sort of delivery downstairs. Can we get out of this room please?”

“Yeah, let’s go downstairs,” Micky suggested and gestured for Rafe to move forward. “He seems to connect with you best,” he said, and I took the hint that I would be responsible for him.

“Do we want to let him be out and about?” I asked my friend.

“As long as someone is with him,” he said pointedly, making another hint that I was that someone. “I don’t think he should leave the house.”

I nodded my head in agreement as I noticed Jason’s claws retracting as he stood, glaring at Frasier who had holstered his weapon. We made our way downstairs then and found a large framed mirror standing in the hall. Written in French on the mirror in blood was a message geared toward Bruce and signed R.C. It said for him to be at the park at midnight or that the girl, and I took it to be Bruce’s mortal descendant Rachel Black, would suffer if he didn’t. Elvira and Bruce were in the hall waiting and he was talking to someone on his cell phone.

There was no other way of knowing who’d sent the mirror except for the fact that a woman had been driving a U-Haul truck that delivered it. From the description Jax gave us, it sounded like Michael’s new girl.

“Sounds like Vivian,” I said to Elvira, feeling a little better about the situation. At least now I had something to do. Giving Cormac, Nina, Brother Stephen and Jason the information on what had been happening was like an eye in the storm.

“That means Michael,” she replied.

“Michael?” Jason asked.

“Yes,” I said turning to him. “You remember Michael.” Both med had both been involved in the chain of events that led to Elvira’s takeover of Salem.

“Yeah,” Jason half-laughed. “Smart ass. What’s he got to do with anything?”

“Well, for some time now he’s been involved with a Sabbat pack that’s causing trouble in town. I don’t know how long he’s been with them.”

“Are you talking about Michael Moorecock?” the alternate Rafe asked. “Don’t tell me he’s a vamp, too?”

“Yes,” I replied.

“For a while now,” Jason interjected. I noticed Cormac approaching the mirror and saw him lay his hand on its frame. His eyes closed and from his stance I figured he was attempting to do a Spirit’s Touch on it to see what he could learn.

“Oh, this is too weird,” I heard Rafe say, but I was now interested in what information Cormac was getting via his touch on the mirror. When he was finished, he described the pictures he had received from his viewings. The most important being that it was Roger Campbell that had written on the mirror and that Michael and his two ghouls, Vivian and Birkoff, that had put it into the van that brought it here. The evidence of Michael’s involvement with the pack was growing by leaps and bounds every day and what little hope I had of helping him was dwindling past the point of me being able to do anything for him.

To bring the newcomers up to date, Elvira quickly reviewed the events that had taken place over the last week, including the fact that Roger was a Lasombra and that Vivian had once lived in Salem and was a member of the Black Rose Coven.

I was anxious to get to the park and we all agreed to get there early, hoping to set a trap. Micky and Sarah were staying behind, he was waiting for some information to come in from one of his contacts, but they said they would come by the park around the time of the meeting. Rafe was also staying behind with Elvira in hopes of giving her information that could help in returning Christina and Rafe that belonged here.

Cormac, Stephen, Nina, Jason, Frasier, Bruce and I left the house within twenty minutes, taking one of the chantry’s limousines. On the way, I told the newcomers what I knew about the pack. “There’s one Lasombra for sure,” I said referring to Roger Campbell, as I looked around the group of people I didn’t know except from what Christina had told me. The only person present I knew I could trust was Bruce and that made me feel better. Everything would be all right; it had to. “There’s a Tremere with them as well as Michael Moorecock, he’s Venture. There’s at least a couple others, but I don’t know their clans.” I didn’t tell them that Akari was Elvira’s childe. It wasn’t important and they didn’t need to know.

“There is a shapeshifter with them as well,” Cormac added. I looked at him in surprise, but he didn’t offer an explanation and I didn’t ask. If there were indeed a shapeshifter among them the evidence of it would eventually come out.

I quickly detailed the house where the pack had been staying, leaving out the particulars about Michael slashing the mother’s throat. I just couldn’t form the words to make him look like an even bigger monster. I still held out hope that there was some explanation for his presence with the pack that had nothing to do with him being there voluntarily.

We arrived at the park without incident and pulled into a parking area. “Has anyone been here?” Nina asked, out one of the tinted windows. It was late and there wasn’t anyone in sight.

“I know the park, and so does Bruce,” I replied as we all got out of the vehicle and got flashlights from the trunk. We found an area in the park that was perfect for an ambush and split up. Jason and Frasier climbing into a couple of trees to act as lookouts, while Cormac and Nina stayed together under a dark clump of trees. Bruce and I stayed together as well and went across the open area to take position under another group of trees. I didn’t see where Brother Stephen went. He disappeared almost as soon as we exited the limousine and I had to admit that I was a little glad. I hadn’t spent much time with werewolves, and he made me a bit nervous. What the hell was Cormac thinking when he brought him along anyway?

“They’re here,” Bruce whispered in my ear about twenty minutes later and indicated an odd shadow that was heading our way. “You might want to signal them.” I flashed the light quickly in Cormac and Nina’s direction then, just as we had set up and pulled my gun. Bruce stepped out from behind the tall oak where we had been waiting and the shadow dispersed enough to reveal Roger Campbell.

“Good evening, my child,” Roger said in French to Bruce, who had continued forward and now stood a few feet from the other Lasombra. “It’s good to see you got my message.”

“Yes, I got it. You need to brush up on your French, though. Your pronunciation is a little off.” As far as I could tell the other man’s French was perfect, but Bruce’s knowledge of the language was far older than mine. I was sure to some extent he was being serious.

“You have been too long from your clan,” Roger continued, unabashed. “I invite you to rejoin us. Your skills are needed.”

“I have been too long from my clan?” Bruce asked, maintaining the rouse we’d established shortly after he’d risen that he was Tremere.

“We know you are one of us.” Roger was beginning to sound annoyed.

“When I was created there were no clans,” Bruce scoffed. “My clan is Tremere.”

“I know you are one of us,” Roger said with that sly smile I was beginning to hate. “We have been watching you closely since you came up from the ground. Keeping an eye on you and waiting for the perfect opportunity for you to rejoin us.”

“I can’t rejoin anything I never belonged to,” Bruce said evenly and simply. “It wasn’t by choice that I was created. I won’t be involved with those who forced this upon me.”

“I was not your sire,” Roger insisted. “That is not how we all do things.”

“Correct my if I’m wrong,” Bruce began, sounding like he was getting upset now, “but I understand that you think of people as food and nothing else.”

“And what are they if they’re not?”

“I have lived for 1100 years and I have resisted the temptation of human blood.” That was the one thing Bruce couldn’t bring himself to do. Feed from humans. I’d always thought that something horrible happened before his torpor that left him with that affliction, but I’d never asked.

“So you think,” Roger scoffed. “Where do you suppose your blood comes from every evening? Do you think they keep cows in the back just for you?”

Bruce was silent for a moment before he replied, “Even if it is human blood, it was given freely, by donation. It wasn’t forcibly taken.”

I couldn’t take any more belittling from this jerk. Stepping out from behind the tree I asked in an even voice as I started to raise my gun, “What have you done?” I knew there would only be a short time before his shadows confined my hand again and I prayed that Bruce or one of the others could stop him in some way.

Roger laughed as he raised his arms. “Ah, that’s why I wanted you to bring your friends, Bruce. Most of them are Tremere and we can use them as well.” He looked over to where Cormac and Nina were and gestured them forward, but they didn’t come out.

I now had Roger in my sights, and I felt the familiar pull of shadows attempting to encircle my hand once again, but I jerked away from them and seemed to succeed. From the corner of my eye, I saw Cormac raise his gun to shoot. I thought I saw Nina throw something that was quickly grabbed by a shadowy tentacle that rose from the ground.

I pulled the trigger of my Glock just as a shadow enshrouded Roger and it was then that things went into overdrive. Bruce moved forward to attack the other Lasombra and the shadow moved away very fast. We all gave chase, but were blinded by a flash of white light. I felt what seemed to be a person, maybe Bruce because he was right behind me, being thrown into my back. Everything went dark.

I saw visions of myself and Michael walking hand-in-hand in a sunny meadow. He smiled down at me as I reached up to remove his sunglasses and we kissed tenderly. Then I was lying on a bed in a hospital room. Michael was there with me and I was in incredible pain, but I couldn’t remember ever feeling so happy.

Then I realized that I was standing on the other side of a white picket fence that surrounded a duplex. Antonio was there, talking to Michael who was standing just inside the door. _I won’t let The Spaniard hurt my family,_ I thought to myself. _I will kill him first._ Then I fell to the ground and lost consciousness.


	5. Role Reversal

_I had a dream last night_  
_And it fit me like a glove._  
_ Butthole Surfers - Whatever (I Had A Dream)_

I awoke with a heavy weight on my back. My head was fuzzy, trying to understand the visions that had just run through it. What did it all mean? I knew they weren’t my memories because Michael had been a vampire when we met. We never had the opportunity to walk through a sunny meadow.

“Bruce?” I asked thickly, remembering what had happened before I ended up here.

“Are you okay?” Bruce whispered from above me. It was his weight I felt and for some reason, that thought gave me some comfort.

“Yes. Are you okay?” I asked in an equally low voice.

“A little dizzy, but other than that, okay.”

“Where are we?” I opened my eyes and saw the white fence directly in front of me.

“On the ground,” he said in his always joking manner.

“Very funny,” I mumbled as I elbowed him, and he got up with a grunt. I rolled over and took the hand he offered and got to my feet. I could hear angry voices and turned to see who they were and where they came from.

The duplex was the same one that I’d seen in my vision and Antonio and Michael were both there as well. I absently brushed my shirt and pants free of any dirt and slowly moved to enter the yard, vaguely aware that Bruce was still with me. We had walked into an argument.

“…not here. Even if she were, you must know you wouldn’t be welcome.” I knew without a doubt that was Michael’s voice. What on earth was going on around here?

“I demand to see her. She has much to answer for, Moorecock. Much to answer for.” I had only seen Antonio this agitated a few times before, but never with a friend.

“She had a warrant for you childe, Spaniard,” Michael continued from the doorway. “The kill was legal. You have no right to come here.” Come here? What was going on? What about Antonio’s childe? Was it Christina that he was so upset about?

“I have every right. That bastard killed her husband. She was within our laws to take his life in return.” I recognized the passion in Antonio’s voice and knew whatever it was he was talking about meant a great deal to him. “The warrant against her would never have been issued if your wife hadn’t pushed it. I demand satisfaction,” he finished with a sneer.

Michael’s voice got very deep as he said, “Demand your satisfaction from the courts, Spaniard. You’ll get nothing here.” I knew Michael meant business as well and hoped we hadn’t walked into a fight we couldn’t stop.

I saw that Antonio was a vampire, but for some reason Michael looked human to me and I started to get scared. Had Bruce and I flipped to the alternate reality? Had the alternate Rafe been telling the truth when he said that the Michael he knew was a werewolf? What did that mean in his relationship with the Brenda from this world? And what about Antonio? He couldn’t in anyway be like my sire. This couldn’t be the same kind of man who took me under his wing and embraced me because he knew how much I loved Michael. I started to get the feeling that I wasn’t anywhere near Kansas anymore.

I glanced to Bruce and saw that he was angry and going for his gun. “This is not the time,” I said putting my hand on his arm. “We do not know what’s going on here. It’s Antonio and Michael, but we don’t know what they are. Hold back, alright?” Bruce nodded reluctantly and released his hold on his gun, removing his hand from his jacket.

“That’s Antonio?” Bruce asked in a quiet voice that didn’t draw the attention of the two men on the porch. Bruce and I were at the bottom of the stairs now and I stopped there taking in the two of them.

“I see you, Antonio Miguel Santiago Moreno,” I said from where I stood.

Antonio straightened tensely and turned around on the porch, startled to hear me behind him and I think a little shocked to hear me say his name. He didn’t look like the Antonio I knew. His hair was extremely short by his standards, not even touching the collar of his shirt and his attire was very modern. Suddenly I left a rush over power roll come over me. It seemed to emanate from Antonio, but I had no knowledge of any vampire ability with that affect. It was as if he was trying to influence me in some way, but it wasn’t working.

“Somebody’s pissy,” Bruce said, bringing attention to himself.

“Bruce?” Antonio asked, astonished as if he recognized him. “I thought you were dead.” He now moved to the edge of the porch for a better look at my companion.

In response, Bruce put his first two fingers to the inside of his wrist as if he was feeling for a pulse and simply said, “I am.”

“I heard the master of Salem cut your head off.” Antonio seemed truly impressed to see Bruce standing before him. “What are you doing here? Rachel will be so glad to see you.” He then remembered who Bruce was with and asked, “What are you doing with her?” He was glaring at me again.

“When was this?” Bruce asked, ignoring Antonio’s question. He was adjusting his neck and the collar of his shirt in discomfort as if thinking about losing his head. You didn’t mention beheading in front of a vampire and not expect some sort of awkwardness. Leave it to Bruce to find humor in the situation.

I looked to the door and saw Michael there, looking as handsome as he did the day he left Salem two years ago. He was standing just inside the screen door, so it was hard to get a good look at him. My heart lurched anyway.

“Two years ago,” Antonio was saying, not understanding Bruce’s apparent loss of memory. “Just after you came up from the ground. Why would you hide for two years? Rachel has been missing you horribly. I had to make her move here so that bitch wouldn’t kill her. And what are you doing with her?” he asked again menacingly and pointing a finger at me this time.

“He is my adopted childe,” I said calmly, waiting for Antonio to realize exactly what I was.

“Brenda?” Michael called from inside the house. “Why don’t you come in here, away from the nice vampires?” Confusion was evident in his voice and my heart went out to him. He had no idea what was going on.

I heard Bruce start to laugh and elbowed him into silenced.

“Brenda, come on.” Michael was gesturing for me to come inside now.

“Michael, everything is fine,” I said as evenly.

“Everything is not fine,” he insisted. “Your gun’s not out and you’re not in here.”

“Michael, you need to trust me.”

“Well Bruce, you can help me out here,” Antonio said with a sneer, effectively getting my attention again. “I have vengeance to seek.” He was looking at me in a way that made me feel that I wasn’t liked.

“Antonio, look again,” was all I said.

“How do you know that name?” he raged. “I have told only one person that name in 300 years. Did you torture her before you killed her?”

“I would not hurt her,” Bruce said in a friendly manner. “Use your Auspex, Antonio.” I heard a baby crying from inside the house as Antonio gave me a hard look. He was studying me.

Michael glanced over his shoulder then said to me, “I’ll go get her. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’ll be fine,” I replied reassuringly. I watched him disappear into the house, realizing that part of the visions made sense now. I must have been seeing parts of her life, the Brenda from this world. The pain in the hospital must have been childbirth. _They have at least one child,_ I thought to myself in panic and despair. _They are happy, in love and have a family. And he thinks I’m her. What am I going to do?_

Where was Rafe? I realized I hadn’t really thought of him ever since our little flip into the Twilight Zone. Was he next door? I knew that’s where the other Rafe lived and I wanted to go to the door and knock, but my current situation was way too tense. I focused on Antonio again.

“_Dios __Mio_,” Antonio was saying. “You’re a vampire.”

“In my world I am, and it is you I have to thank for it.” My tone was even, but he still looked taken aback.

“Christina is missing,” Bruce continued. “Do you know where she is?”

Antonio’s face contorted in pain as he returned his attention to Bruce. “She’s not missing,” he spat. “She’s dead and this bitch killed her.” There went the finger in my direction again.

“Antonio,” I began, “something is going on here. We are not from this world.” How was I supposed to explain this to him? He was already extremely upset and probably thought I was playing games with him.

We all must have heard the door open at the same time because our three heads turned in unison. Christina and Rafe stood just outside the doorway of the other apartment.

“Christina!” Antonio exclaimed as he quickly moved to vault the fence to get to my sister’s side. Once there he wrapped his arms around her in a fierce hug.

“Antonio wait,” I said as he moved. “That’s not your Christina.”

“Not today I’m not,” she said easily as she pushed away from him. “I know I haven’t seen you in a while but –“she trailed off, seeming to remember that he wasn’t the sire she knew and had been avoiding for a couple years.

Rafe had worked his way around the group of people to reach my side. I was so relieved to see him as he pulled me into his arms and hugged me tightly. “Are you all right?” I asked.

“I’m fine,” he said, still holding me close. “Just very confused about what’s going on.” I pulled back to look at him, just to make sure he was real. “There are things going on here I don’t think you realize.”

“What? That this Brenda’s a hunter?”

“Yeah,” he said amazed. “How’d you know?”

“You kind of told me,” I said with a smile as I reached up to caress his cheek.

“Oh, let me guess – he’s there?” After I nodded, Rafe asked, “Is he a creep?”

“No, he’s a nice guy, but he’s not you.” I hugged him to me again and he kissed my temple lightly.

“Look,” I heard Christina say from behind me and I turned. “I know you think I’m you’re childe but I’m not. And I know you look like my Antonio, but you’re The Spaniard and we gotta figure this out.” It was a good thing she didn’t need to breathe. She was rattling along like a village idiot. “This isn’t the Brenda you know, it’s the Brenda I know and she’s your childe and you don’t know Bruce in our world. There’s a Michael here that’s married to you,” she finished in a flourish as she turned her attention to me. I could tell she was nervous and upset, that’s why she was ranting.

“I know,” Rafe and I said at the same time then looked at each other. Remembering how touchy of a subject Michael was, I put my hand to his face, and he covered it with his own.

“He needs to know what’s going on, so he doesn’t come into this situation and flip out,” I said.

“I know,” he replied in a low voice. “There’s a matter about giving something to Antonio or he’s going to kill you.” He pulled an envelope from his pocket and handed it to me.

“Well then, let’s do that.” I looked at the envelope and recognized Christina’s handwriting on it. It was addressed to The Spaniard. I went to where he was still talking to my Christina and held out the envelope. “The Christina you knew apparently left this for you.”

He snatched it from my hand, “Where did you get this?”

“It was by the door. I have no idea how it got there,” Rafe told him. “There’s a journal in there as well that says if you don’t get this, you’ll kill Brenda and I don’t want you to kill her, so there it is.”

“Chris, Michael is over there,” I said taking her hand and she gently squeezed it in return. “I have to go talk to him. He’s gotta know what’s going on here.” My voice was shaky, and I dreaded the upcoming confrontation, but I knew I had to do it. Christina nodded quietly, and I could tell she was depressed and upset. I wished I had the time to talk to her now but dealing with Michael was more important. Then we had to figure out how to get back to our world.

I went to the door of the home Brenda and Michael shared and looked inside. It was a living room filled with warm comfortable furniture that was decorated in a style I myself would have chosen. The TV was on, but no one was in the room. In one corner there was a playpen with older children’s toys neatly piled next to it. I opened the screen and was surprised to find that I couldn’t enter when I tried. It was like an invisible shield of some kind was keeping me from entering.

“Michael?” I called into the house, my hand resting on the barrier.

“Yeah, Bren. Are you okay?” His voice was coming from the second floor.

“Kind of.” How could I tell him I couldn’t enter? This was stupid. “Um, can you come here?”

“Why don’t you come here?” he replied.

“I can’t.”

“Brenda, you know you can come in the house. Come on.” And with those words my hand fell into the room as if by magic. I remembered hearing of vampires needing to be invited into a home but that was only in stories, right? I had never known of an actual vampire impeded in such a way. With a final glance over my shoulder at Rafe I walked inside.

“Where are you?” I asked stepping into the room and letting the screen close behind me.

“I’m upstairs in Anna’s room.” Was that one of their children? I suddenly found myself wondering what they looked like. Did they have a boy that looked like Michael, with blond hair and clear blue eyes? Or did they have a girl with dark hair like mine? My emotions were in such a whirl as I headed for the stairs that led to the second floor. What would he do when he found out that I wasn’t his wife or worse yet, that I was one of the beings she hunted?

I worried that I would have to defend myself against him and I dreaded that I might have to hurt him. I wondered if my abilities were the same now that I found myself in a different place, so I quickly lowered my fangs as I reached the bottom of the stairs just to make sure I still could and retracted them again. It would be stupid to meet Michael with that kind of calling card. I would be dead for sure.

There were several picture frames on the wall that led up the stairs and I studied them as I slowly climbed up. They were the typical pictures of a growing family. Wedding day photos, professional poses of a couple and two children, and single pictures of two adorable little girls in various stages of development. The oldest was Anna and the baby was Brenna, I learned from this Brenda’s neat script that was so familiar to me. She had made collages of the girls, their names in a colorful script.

The weird thing about the whole situation was that the mother was me, but not me. They all looked so happy I thought I was going to cry. It wasn’t that I wanted to be the wife and mother in those pictures. It’s just that the point was driven home once again that I could never _be_ a wife and mother.

“Brenda?” Michael called, bringing me out of my thoughts. “Are you coming up? Come on, Anna wants to see you.” I was stunned. I couldn’t do this.

“Mommy.” I heard a small child call out.

“Michael?” I was barely maintaining my composure.

“Yeah. Did you get rid of The Spaniard?”

“Um. We need to talk.” There was no way in hell I was going up there.

“Did you kill the vamp on the stairs?” His tone said he was getting fed up with my hesitation.

“Could you come here please?” I heard movement and a few seconds later Michael appeared at the top of the stairs with a little girl that looked no more than three years old in his arms.

“Mommy,” she cried and held out her little arms in my direction. I felt as if someone was ripping my heart out.

Michael must have seen my discomfort because he asked, “Brenda, what’s wrong?” When I didn’t respond, he put Anna down and lowered himself down beside her. “Honey, why don’t you go lay down. Mommy will be up later.” She nodded with a finger in her mouth, something my father told me I always did, and walked out of sight. Not however, before blowing me a kiss and waving her little hand in my direction.

Michael rose and started down the stairs and I turned and did the same. When we were in the living room, I quickly crossed to the other side to put as much space as possible between us.

“What’s wrong, Brenda?” Michael asked following me. “Come on and give me a kiss. What did The Spaniard do to shake you that bad?”

“N-nothing,” I stammered taking another step away from him.

Something caught his attention from the porch, and he glanced out the front door. “He’s still out there,” he stated.

“Michael, please sit down. I know you’re confused.” He reached for my hand, but I pulled away and he looked at me questioningly. “Michael, I have to talk to you,” I indicated the couch. “Please sit down, there are some things I need to explain.”

“Okay. I don’t understand, but-” I followed him to the couch and he sat on the edge of it. There was a coffee table in front of the couch and I took a seat in front of Michael.

He moved to take my hand again and I dodged him. “Wait before you do that,” I stammered, and he laid his hands on my thighs instead. “There is something going on.”

“Obviously,” he chuckled slightly, then his expression turned serious. “Were you outside a long time? You’re cold.” He was looking down to where his hands lay and he started moving them up and down my thighs. Stop this, I warned myself. This is NOT a good idea.

“I-I’m going to be cold,” I croaked out.

“I could warm you up,” he replied slyly looking into my eyes with a come hither glance. My gaze went to the door and I was relieved that Rafe wasn’t standing there. He probably would have rushed in with guns blazing.

“H-how can I say this,” I said half out loud and half to myself. “Michael, I am not the Brenda you think I am.”

“What,” he laughed, “did you go and do something weird?”

“No. This is going to seem hard to believe –“

“This whole thing is weird, honey. You’re not leaving me, are you?” His tone turned serious all of a sudden.

“No. Oh, my God. I am not from this world. Something has happened, and I have switched places with your wife.”

“I know it’s almost Halloween, Bren but come on. Is this some kind of trick?” His grip tightened slightly on my legs, but he caught himself and relaxed his fingers again.

“This is no joke. I am _dead_ serious.” Our eyes were locked and I saw that something was going on in the depths of his clear blue ones. They were changing, becoming more animalistic in appearance. I also began to feel some kind of power wash over me again. Something like I felt earlier coming from Antonio, but this time it came from Michael. Then I remembered what the other Rafe had told me.


	6. Revealing the Truth

_Is this a blessing? Or is it a curse?_   
_Does it get any better? Can it get any worse?_   
_ Meatloaf - It Just Won’t Quit_

“Michael, are you Lupine?” I asked in partial disbelief.

He quickly removed his hands from my thighs then and gripped the couch cushion instead. He looked as if someone had slapped him across the face. “Brenda, you know I am. Don’t play games with me,” he almost growled.

“Michael, believe me, I wouldn’t do that to you.” I was really starting to get nervous. I didn’t know much about werewolves to begin with and now I found myself in a place where I had to wonder about my abilities and if I could protect myself. It was too much to have to question what little knowledge of other things I had.

“What did you do with my wife?” he asked. He was beginning to believe what I was trying to tell him.

“She’s probably in my world with my friends.” At least I hoped Micky and Sarah had arrived at the park to find our counterparts. I found myself wondering what happened to the others who were in the park with us.

“Your vamp friends?” Michael asked gruffly.

“Nothing will happen to her,” I assured him.

“How do we get her back?” He still looked dangerous, but he was managing to keep a tight reign on his emotions.

“That’s what we need to figure out.”

“How did you get here?”

“In my world, we are fighting this group of not so nice vampires.”

“That would be all of them,” he retorted pointedly.

I shook my head. “No. Look, do you have the ability to tell if I’m lying to you or not?” I wasn’t going to get anywhere if he couldn’t trust me enough to believe what I was telling him.

“Try and find out. You’ve never been able to lie to me.” He actually sounded smug, the jerk.

“Then you’ll believe me when I tell you. There is a group called the Sabbat. Are you familiar with them?”

“It’s a witches c-“he started.

“No,” I quickly dismissed his assumption. “In our society they are a group, maybe like the vampires here. I don’t know for sure; I’ve only met Antonio.”

“Who?”

“Antonio. You know, the man who wishes to kill you wife.”

“The Spaniard? His name in Antonio?” I didn’t understand the big secrecy over his name. It’s not like his name was Eugene or anything.

“Yes,” I replied.

“How did you get here and why isn’t Christina dead?” I heard the cushion under his clenched fingers begin to tear. I had to admit his control was really admirable.

“I’ll tell you everything if you’ll just give me some time. I believe they have done some kind of black ritual that has switched us. For what reason, I don’t know. Maybe they thought we were a threat to their plan to take over the city and they’ll be able to achieve their end easier without us there.” Then I thought about the bugs and cameras that were found in my house and how angry the Michael from my world must have been to see me with another man. He could be pretty possessive when he wanted to. “On the other hand, maybe they’re just having some fun and experimenting for the future.”

“How do we fix it?” he asked.

“I don’t know.” And it really pissed me off. I felt so helpless and I didn’t like the feeling.

“Well, maybe we better find someone who does.” He sounded angry because I didn’t have all the answers and I couldn’t blame him.

“That’s my hope.”

“Who’s that?” he asked finally noticing my adopted childe who sat next to Antonio on the porch.

“That’s my friend, Bruce Blackwell.”

“And I bet he’s a vamp, too.” After I nodded, he continued under his breath, “I’m surrounded by vamps. Let me guess, you could come in because I told you to.”

“I guess,” I replied hesitantly. I still didn’t understand what was up with me not being able to come in. “On my life, Michael, nothing will happen.”

“I will not allow anything to happen to my children.”

“Neither will I. They are an extension and you and her.”

“Well let’s go outside and discuss this if you can keep The Spaniard under control.”

“I will do whatever I have to.” We both stood at the same time, ending up nose to nose and close enough to touch our lips together. For an instant I think the both of us almost forgot who the other was and just kissed because it was so easy. Even though I hadn’t been with my Michael for over two years, I still felt the familiarity of being with him just by the close contact with the man in front of me.

But the moment only lasted that long. Just a moment. It was hard to be certain, but I thought the both of us moved closer and almost kissed, then remembered ourselves and pulled awkwardly away. We went out to the porch were Bruce and Antonio were still seated on the steps, Antonio was reading the contents of the envelope Rafe had given him. Rafe and Christina stood leaning against the house, staying out of the way.

“Do you know any mages or anyone with magical abilities?” I asked Michael as the screen door once again shut.

“No one Brenda hasn’t killed,” he replied. “She doesn’t make friends in the supernatural community. E-except Lupines,” he added guiltily.

“Great,” I muttered.

Antonio finished reading then and carefully folded the papers and replaced them in the envelope. When Bruce asked him if he was all right, Antonio looked to the sky and nodded his head quietly, blood tears were apparent in his eyes, but he wasn’t letting them fall. The two men continued to talk in low voices as Michael and I joined Christina and Rafe.

I noticed a hole about the size of a fist in the side of the house, just below Christina’s shoulder, and I thought that something more had happened to upset her. She tended to hit things when she got angry. When I looked at her pointedly, she ignored me, and I didn’t press her about it. There would be time later.

Rafe looked relieved that Michael and I hadn’t come out of the house arm in arm and I had to admit there was a small part of me that had wanted to do just that. Rafe moved to stand beside me, but I discreetly held out a hand for him to wait. I didn’t want Michael to see that the two of us were involved.

I wasn’t discreet enough however, because Michael looked from Rafe to me and asked, “Let me guess, Rafe went too?” I nodded slowly, and he replied, “So this Rafe is from your world?”

“Yes.”

“And you guys are lovers, aren’t you?” he asked with disgust and it pissed me off.

“Only because you left me,” I defended myself in a low voice. This guy was not going to put me on the spot for any of my decisions.

“Wasn’t me,” he said simply. “I never would have left my Brenda.”

“But he did.”

I didn’t stop Rafe this time when he moved to come to my side. Michael eyed him up and down in an almost jealous way.

“In this world she ended up with yours. Her sire sent it to her,” I heard Antonio say from behind me and I turned to see that Buffy Summers and Rachel Black were striding up the front walk.

“Her what?” Bruce asked. Rachel’s attention was brought to him and shock filled her features. Buffy looked from the sword Bruce was holding to the one sticking out from behind her right shoulder.

“Are you Bruce?” she asked in disbelief.

“Last time I checked,” he replied. Rachel finally came to her senses and began to slowly approach the porch, clutching her chest.

Buffy looked to me and asked, “Brenda, what’s going on?”

“This is Lord Bruce Blackwell,” was all I said. I didn’t know whether these newcomers would be friend or foe and I wasn’t about to give away anything more.

“I thought you were dead,” Rachel said when she reached the bottom of the stairs. “I saw her kill you.” She had eyes only for Bruce and I wondered what kind of relationship the two of them had had in this place.

“She did.” Bruce stood and pulled her up the stairs and into his arms.

“Bruce, is she alright?” I asked.

“Yeah, she’s fine. Not exactly what I’m used to.” He was looking down at her awkwardly, like she was a toad or something.

“What are you talking about?”

“Let me guess,” Michael said incredulously from next to me, “in your world she’s not a vampire?”

“No,” I replied as I really looked at her for the first time and realized he was right. “She is here, though.”

Rachel pulled back in Bruce’s embrace and stared at him. “What are you talking about? You’re the one who made me.”

Bruce was visibly shaken, and it took him a moment to reply. “No, I-I don’t think so.”

“What about the Slayer?” I asked indicating Buffy with my head. I had also noticed that she too was a vampire variety.

“Me? I’m not the Slayer, you are. I gave up that job. Well, I had no choice. What was I supposed to do, slay myself?”

“That would have been interesting,” Bruce chuckled.

Buffy turned her attention to Antonio, “Is this your revenge?”

“Wasn’t me,” he replied with his hands in the air.

“Yeah, it was.” Bruce was still chuckling as he tucked Rachel under one arm.

“Bruce,” I warned. “I think that’s irrelevant right now. We need your help, Antonio.”

“Antonio?” Buffy asked, her nose wrinkled. “Is that your name?”

The look he gave me said, _can’t you keep your mouth shut?_ Bruce leaned toward me and said lowly, “I think we should call him The Spaniard.”

“I don’t understand what’s going on,” Antonio said shaking his head. “Where were you before you came to this world?”

“A-aren’t we in Salem?” I asked. The thought hadn’t even crossed my mind before. It was crazy enough dealing with the fact that we were no longer in our own reality, but to think that we weren’t in Salem either was particularly disturbing.

“Salem, Washington?” Antonio asked in disbelief.

“No, Salem, Massachusetts,” I replied.

He shook his head, a piteous look on his face. “Try Nashville, Tennessee,” was all he said.

Nashville? How could this be? The more information I got about this place the more confused I became.

“We need to find a Tremere,” I said under my breath as I thought about what our next move should be.

“A what?” Buffy asked. I couldn’t remember just how much vampire knowledge she had in my reality, but since she was now a vampire herself, I expected that she would.

“A Tremere,” I repeated. “You.” I pointed to Antonio.

He just stared blankly at me, however. “I don’t know what that is,” was all he said.

“Spooky boo,” Bruce interjected.

“You know Thaumaturgy?” I tried. “Blood Magic?” Was this place that different from ours? How was that possible?

“That I can do,” Antonio replied with a slight grin.

“We need to find somebody with the ability to switch us back,” I said. “Do you know anyone?”

“I believe it was a Lasombra that had something to do with it,” Bruce offered.

I nodded. “Yes, I think it was some dark ritual they performed.”

“You guys are obviously not from around here,” Antonio said. “You said you were from Salem. Who do you know there?”

“Elvira Van Dorn is the Prince and her childe, Micky George.”

Antonio shook his head sadly. “He’s her ghoul, here. Well, he used to be before she lost him in a card game.”

“Is Elvira still alive in this world?” I asked Antonio.

“Yeah. But I don’t think you want to call her,” he said thoughtfully, which caused me concern. “What about Faith?”

I nodded. “She’s a Tremere from Nashville.”

“Now she’s in Salem, but she probably won’t talk to me. She’s a little upset with me.”

“Why? What did you do?” Bruce asked.

“There can be only one Master vampire in town at a time,” he explained.

After a short discussion, it was decided that Rachel would try to contact Faith. After finding out that Bruce’s cell phone didn’t work here, Rafe went into his counterpart’s apartment to get a cordless.

Bruce seemed to notice Michael who was standing on the fringe of the group and cautiously approached him. “This has got to be hard on you,” he said friendly.

“What, being surrounded by vamps?” Michael replied, doing nothing to hide his contempt. “Or how about finding out that my wife isn’t my wife? Or that in another world she’s my friend’s lover? And that she’s a vamp?”

“If it’s any comfort to you at all, in the other world you’re a vampire, too.” I hadn’t mean to hurt him in any way, but he was acting like he was the only one displaced in this whole situation.

Michael turned his gaze to me. “Oh, really? Was that before or after the werewolf bit me on campus?”

“You weren’t born Lupine?” I asked in surprise. Yes, my knowledge of werecreatures was limited, but even I knew you were born one. This reality seemed to have very little in common with ours.

Michael was shaking his head. “No. How do you get to be Lupine in your world?”

“You’re born,” Bruce and I replied together.

“Not here. You have to be bit.”

“I’m sorry,” I muttered.

“Lotta changes,” Bruce said as he turned and went to speak to Buffy. I smiled a little smile. Bruce had said that when he first came up from Rachel’s yard. Obviously, there were many things, everything to be exact, that were different from the time in which he had lived. He took things in stride and began to use that phrase when he tried to understand a new situation. I hadn’t heard him say that in a while.

I didn’t want to fight with this Michael. While we waited to see what Rachel could learn, I thought it would be best to stick to neutral topics. “I saw the photographs on the stairway,” I said, relieved that for the moment Rafe was watching Rachel as she talked on the phone.

Michael’s brow creased slightly. “The kids?”

“Yes,” I nodded. “They’re beautiful.”

Michael sighed, shifting his gaze away. “They look a lot like you.”

Logically, I knew this wasn’t the Michael I knew, but it was hard to disassociate him sometimes, making this encounter baffling. “You’re a lucky individual. I hope you understand and realize what you have with her.”

Michael brought his eyes back to mine and when he spoke, it was this tone I’d heard numerous times and recognized his deadly seriousness. “I thank God every day.”

“I’m glad one of you does,” I half whispered to myself.

“I’m not in the other world?”

I shook my head. “Not lately.”

“Which would explain why you’re sleeping with Rafael. He’s not a vamp?”

“No, he’s not.” Rafe looked over at me then with a small smile and started across the porch to me. “I understand you have reservations about me and that’s fine but-” I knew I had no right to ask what I was about to, but I couldn’t stop myself. “Is there any way I could just look at the girls?”

“You know I can kill you,” he said in a low voice.

“I’ll give you the gun.”

He eyed me a long moment before saying, “I don’t need a gun.” Neither of us said a word, as if Michael were trying to determine if he could trust me or not. “If you swear you won’t harm them-”

“I swear it with my life.”

“Alright.”

“I’ll be right back,” I said to Rafe and kissed his cheek. He looked apprehensive again but didn’t say anything as Michael and I crossed the porch together. Once inside the house, I carefully took out each of my guns and placed them on the coffee table.

Michael led the way upstairs. The bedrooms were all on the left and he went into the first of them. The nursery was done in pink with an adorable bunny border along the top of the walls. The room was spacious, but filled with a crib, toddler bed and two tall dressers. More toys spilled from an ancient but sturdy toy box that I recognized as my own from childhood. Anna was sitting up in her bed with a stuffed Ernie on her lap.

“Mommy! Daddy!” she cried when she saw us. Michael crossed the room and put his first finger to his lips in a gesture designed to keep the little girl quiet. He sat on the bed and laid his large hand on her head. “How ya doing, honey?” he asked.

“I’m waiting for my kiss, so I can go to sleep,” she informed him matter of factly. I could tell that this child had a memory as long as an elephant. She got to her knees and threw her chubby arms around Michael’s neck in a fierce hug of joy. He hugged her in return, and I knew he was upset and trying to hide it from the little girl.

I glanced in the crib from where I had stopped in the doorway and saw that the baby, Brenna, who was about a year old, was fast asleep. She looked purely angelic and I knew she would be as beautiful as Anna was.

Michael and Anna exchanged more hugs and kisses before she broke away and turned to me with her arms outstretched again. I looked to Michael for help. I knew there was no way in hell he was going to let me touch them and he would have to defuse the situation.

“Mommy isn’t feeling good tonight, honey,” he explained as he laid her down on the bed and pulled the covers over her. “She doesn’t want to make you sick, too, so you’re going to have to blow her kisses.”

“Okay,” she laughed in pure childlike innocence as she sat up and blew me a kiss. My heart ached again as I watched her. “Aren’t you going to catch it, Mommy,” she asked sadly.

“Oh, right,” I replied as I caught the imaginary kiss and blew one to her in return.

“I hope you feel better, Mommy,” Anna said with a yawn then added, “Make Daddy kiss it and make it all better.”

“Thank you, sweetie,” I croaked. I knew I was near to tears and didn’t want to scare the little girl, so I quickly ducked out into the hallway while Michael finished the tucking in ritual.

“Thank you,” I said lowly after he joined me in the hall.

“Did you love me in that world?” he asked quietly.

I sighed, knowing that at least in this moment I could be honest. “I still do.”  
“Then what happened?”  
I cleared my throat. “You left me. I met you when I lived in Las Vegas. You are a very smart and charming man. I helped you in your business ventures and we developed a relationship. About six months later I found out that you were a vampire. You made me your ghoul and we were happy.”

Michael frowned. “Ghoul? I put my mark on you?”

“You fed me blood periodically and I stopped aging. I was still human, so I could be out during the day.”

“So,” he said, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms over this chest. “I made you my human servant.”

I nodded. “Kind of, yes. I helped you. We had a relationship. We loved each other.”

“So, what happened?” he asked.

“I wanted to become like you. To be your equal and you didn’t want to give it to me. I understood that, but –“

Michael cut me off with a wave of his hand. “Look, don’t blame me.”

He was right, but the situation was so confusing to grasp. I hadn’t been in my Michael’s presence for so long and part of me wanted him back in my life. “Sorry, you’re right. Anyway, when someone else offered, I thought it would be perfect. I thought we could have whatever kind of normal life we could have in terms of being a vampire.

“I was embraced and when I came back you had changed. I don’t think you liked not having a hold over me anymore. You told me I needed time to adjust to my new life.” I was trembling slightly. I had never really talked about everything that happened with Michael to anyone. Micky had the basic facts, but I didn’t think he really wanted the whole story, especially now that I had found out about Michael and Sarah. “You left me,” I finished in a small voice.

Michael was surprisingly silent. I was sure he would have taken the opportunity to give a few jibes about the stupidity of allowing yourself to get embraced. We moved to the top of the stairs and started down.

“I’m sorry,” I said, trying to sound normal. “I didn’t mean to unload on you.”

Michael looked over his should as we descended the stairs. “Sounds like I’m a real asshole,” he said. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“You’re right. I would have never acted like that. Well, I guess I did. Let’s go see if we can’t get back what’s supposed to be.”


	7. Saying Good-bye to What Can Never Be

_Have you come here for forgiveness?_   
_Have you come to raise the dead?_   
_ U2 - One_

“Yeah, so I can get out of your hair,” I replied to Michael. We were back in the living room and I was collecting my weapons. Just as I turned to glance out the screen door, I saw Christina reach back with her fist and for no apparent reason at all hit the wall of the house. If memory served my right, there had been a hole in the wall already and it just happened to be right where her hand would have landed. Is she trying to disfigure herself or what, I thought as I went to the door and called out, “Chris? What are you doing?”

“I had an itch,” she mumbled like a petulant child as she flexed her fingers.

“That wall didn’t do anything to you,” I retorted before turning back to Michael. He was only a few feet from me, the closest he had willingly put himself since finding out what I was. “Can you uninvite me in?” I asked.

“Uninvite?” He thought for a moment and when he couldn’t find an answer called out, “Hey, Spaniard. Any way to uninvite?”

The Spaniard smiled wickedly. “No. Once we’re in, we’re in.”

Rachel had finished her conversation by then and had returned the phone to Rafe. She informed us that the only person the Elvira of this world knew of who could perform that kind of ritual was Angelus. I had never heard of anyone by that name, so I asked, “So how do we go about getting there?”

“It’s a couple hours by plane,” Antonio intoned.

Rachel was afraid for Bruce to go to Salem and voiced her opinion. She didn’t want to give Elvira the opportunity to kill him again and asked him to stay.

“Do not worry, love,” Bruce soothed her.

It was decided that she would accompany us to act as a guide of sorts. Rachel was happy to give us what information she had about the Salem of this world and I was a little surprised and concerned when she mentioned Akari’s name. Rachel also informed us that Beth Bathori, the previous Prince of Salem, was still alive in this place and that she and Akari had Elvira wrapped around their little fingers.

And to tell the truth, that thought pissed me off. “I guess I’m gonna have to go to work,” I growled lowly to Rafe. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I left this world without restoring Elvira to the kind of leader I knew she could be. She has done so much for me that I thought I could give back a little, even if it wasn’t the woman I knew. “Are there any tools of Brenda’s trade around?” I asked Michael, getting ideas.

“Yeah. I have her executioner's bag.” He gestured with his thumb back into the house.

“Can I borrow a few things?” I figured a few finely sharpened stakes couldn’t hurt the effort.

“Are you planning on bringing them back?” he asked indignantly as he eyed me warily. “Why don’t you take the whole thing?”

I understood how he felt. We had said our peace and I was sure that he didn’t want or plan to see me again after I walked off his front porch. “I don’t want to take her entire supply.”

“Don’t worry. She has another in her car.” He was grinning in that cocky way that had captured me heart to start off with. I mentally chastised myself for thinking of such things as I realized that I wasn’t really experienced with stakes.

“Well, I guess I have phosphorus rounds. That should be enough.”

“What?” Michael asked astonished. My comment had drawn the attention of the rest of the group who had all turned to face me.

“Does phosphorus do anything to you?” Bruce asked of Buffy.

“What?” she asked, echoing Michael.

“You know, Dragon’s Breath,” he pressed.

“There aren’t any dragons in America,” she said matter-of-factly her mouth twisting wryly. “They’re in China.”

Obviously, they didn’t have the phosphorous rounds in this world, or they called them something else. Bruce went about finding out in another way. “What would happen if I held a lighter to you?”

“I would burn,” she replied simply as she crossed her arms over her chest. “Phosphorus is fire?”

Bruce pulled one of his guns from a shoulder holster and unloaded a round. He took it between his thumb and first finger, much like I had done with Rafe, and held it up. “Phosphorus,” was all he said.

“Dragon’s Breath,” I confirmed. “Fire. It’s extremely flammable.”

“Really?” She was absolutely amazed. “Where do you get these?” Buffy took a step closer to Bruce and moved her hand as if to take the round from him. She changed her mind at the last moment, however, and crossed her arms once again as if she were slightly afraid to touch it.

“Elvira,” he replied simply in answer to her question.

“Can we go please?” I asked. Time was wasting and we had to get to Salem if we ever had a chance of getting home.

“By all means,” Antonio headed for the sidewalk then stopped and turned to Michael. “Tell you wife she is safe from me for now. She has my childe to thank for that.”

“That’s fine, but if you come back here again, she’ll kill you,” Michael promised. He wasn’t affected by Antonio’s threat any more than the Michael I knew would have been.

“I won’t be back unless she gives me cause to.” The group started down the walk together.

I grabbed Rafe’s hand as he turned toward the stairs. “Go ahead,” I said to him in a low voice. “Make sure Christina is okay.” I knew he wasn’t happy about it, but he did it reluctantly, offering Christina his arm as they arrived at the steps at the same time. Bruce had in turn offered his arm to Rachel and they all made a small parade of vampires down the front walk to the white picket fence. There was one more thing I wanted to do before we left.

I turned to Michael for one last time and said, “I want you to know I will do whatever it takes to set this right.” It was my turn now to cross my arms over my chest.

“I hope so, I don’t normally trust vampires.” His eyes locked with mine and in those blue depths I saw the concern for the woman he loved, and my heart went out to the both of them.

_God, I hope we can make things right,_ I thought to myself. “I hope you can find it in you to trust me.” It was important to me that he did. What if we couldn’t perform the ritual that would switch us back and we were stuck here?

“I just want my wife back.” His tone was so matter of fact that I pushed my own concerns over our failure to the back of my mind.

“I will do whatever I need to,” I promised. There was something I really wanted to ask Michael. I didn’t know how he would react, and hell, I wasn’t sure why I wanted it so badly. “Listen, can I ask a favor,” I said in a rush.

Michael’s eyes narrowed slightly. “What is it?”

“Can I… well, would you happen to have any pictures,” I faltered. “Of the girls. That I could have? You know to…”

I let my words trail off and understanding played across Michael’s features and he nodded slightly. “Yeah. I think so. Hang on.” He pulled out his wallet from the back pocket of his jeans and pulled out two small pictures and handed them to me. “These are pretty recent. About two months ago.”

The wallet size pictures were singles, one of each little girl wearing matching yellow dresses, and I was really grateful neither was a family shot. I wasn’t sure I could handle something like that. I couldn’t explain it, but I wanted something that would help me remember those two little souls. Something tangible that Michael and I were capable of some good. Something worthwhile.

I held out my hand to shake and to my surprise Michael took it. “Thank you for showing me what could have been,” I told him.

“I’m not sure I can say the same,” he said honestly. “I don’t think I want to know what could have been there.”

His statement hurt, but I understood where he was coming from and I didn’t let him see the hurt. I went halfway down the walk and turned for one last look at Michael. He was as proud as ever, showing the world that nothing was bothering him. Only I could see the worry and apprehension over his missing wife around his eyes. We had to get things back to the way they were supposed to be.

Rafe was waiting when I reached the curb, and I went to him and put my arm around his waist and rested my head on his shoulder as he hugged me to him. It had been decided that The Spaniard was going to lend us his jet for the trip to Salem and had offered to see us to the airport. I thought it was because he wanted to spend as much time with Christina as possible, even though he knew it wasn’t his dead childe. He and Buffy wouldn’t be accompanying us to Salem but wished us well. I saw that Antonio and Christina were having a conversation of some kind off to the side just before we got into the cars to go to the airport and he handed her the envelope Rafe had given him at the house. Within minutes we were on our way.

**~*~*~*~*~**

Once the small convoy was in its way, the knowledge of what was happening to us started play on my mind and I felt myself begin to mentally shut down. What if we couldn’t get back? What would happen to Anna and Brenna? I didn’t think Michael would want me to be a part of their lives, given what I was. Hell, I didn’t think I would want to be involved even if he did.

I stared out the window as we drove through the streets of Nashville, vaguely aware that Rafe was by my side in the back seat and that the others were having a conversation on the way to the airport. It was a different city than the one I had visited a few years ago. After we left Michael and Brenda’s neighborhood, the city became darker and colder. There were few people on the streets and those I saw appeared to be criminals. Maybe if we had to stay here Christina, Bruce, Rafe and I could clean this place up. I knew that once my sister found out that Jason was in our Salem, she wanted to get back quickly, but I had to think about what to do if we didn’t get there.

I heard someone say that Ford Radek had been killed not long after Akari’s embrace in this world and that Elvira had been under Beth’s thumb ever since. Elvira hardly ever went out by herself and she was apparently unaware of the fact that Akari and Beth were having an affair right under her nose.

Rachel was also saying something about the powers that vampires here had. Something about mind tricks like what I had felt earlier. Then The Spaniard’s cell phone rang. After a short and rather abrupt conversation, he replaced the phone in his pocket. “We have to make a detour,” he said to the rest of us, bringing me out of my thoughts for a moment.

“Why?” Bruce asked.

“The Master has called,” he replied sarcastically. “He has requested our presence. We have to stop at The Iron on the way to the airport.”

Bruce looked a little puzzled. “He knows we’re here?”

“Yes. We vampires have a way of sensing when others of our kind are in the vicinity.”

Bruce pondered for a moment then posed another question. “Can he sense our kind in general or who we are?”

“I think it was my show of power at the Moorecock residence,” The Spaniard admitted. He went on to give a physical description of the Master of the city and it reminded me of Wyatt Hamilton, Sarah’s crazy brother that we had killed in our world when I first visited Nashville.

“We can get rid of him again,” I said mechanically as I pulled my guns and checked them.

“What about Christina and Buffy?” Bruce interjected. He was indicating toward the front of the car and I figured he meant the car there and I realized for the first time that the pair must be in that vehicle ahead of us.

“I think it’s best if we let them continue on to the airport,” Antonio suggested as Rachel flashed them her bright lights to get them to pull over. They did and once both cars were parked on the side of the street, I got out went to Christina. She was processing some heavy emotional baggage right now and I didn’t want her to go along with us. In the frame of mind she was in right at the moment, she would be more of a liability than an asset. I didn’t want Rafe to go either, so I was thinking fast as I came up beside my sister. “We gotta go see the Master,” I said when we faced each other. “I think it would be best if you went on to the airport.”

Her face had been full of concern when she got out of the vehicle and now it drooped with disappointment. “You don’t want me to go?” Her voice was full of hurt.

“No,” I replied simply. I didn’t want to hurt her feelings, but I also knew I couldn’t let her get involved. We all were in a precarious situation right now. We were receiving more information on how the vampires of the world did things, but we didn’t know everything, and I couldn’t let her get into a possible rough situation when she didn’t have her wits about her. It was for that same reason I thought I would have Rafe go with her. I could heal myself from pretty much anything, Rafe couldn’t. I wasn’t going to risk losing him, not now that I had recently found him.

“Now you sound like Antonio.” At least the hurt was gone from her voice. Replaced by condescension.

“Since when have I not sounded like Antonio.” I smiled; glad I didn’t have to argue with her like I thought I would.

“Good point. I guess I’ll go to the airport.” The Spaniard was letting Buffy know what had happened while Bruce and Rachel waited by her car. Rafe was making his toward us.

“Secure the plane.” I hugged and kissed her before I turned to Rafe. “I think you should go with Chris and make sure everything is okay on the plane.”

“Okay,” he replied slowly, but I didn’t really think about it at the time. We kissed quickly and I told him softly that I loved him before he got into the other car with my sister and Buffy. Bruce, Antonio, Rachel and I returned to Rachel’s car and headed for The Iron.

As we continued through the city, I took a moment to study more of the terrain. I couldn’t believe it when I saw a vampire actually feeding from a human in a dark corner and I fought the desire to ask Rachel to pull over. There was nothing I could do now to help. The neighborhood was dirty and full of abandoned buildings that were covered with graffiti. _Time to think about other things,_ I thought as I faced the front again. _Like getting home._

“Are there any specific protocols?” I asked The Spaniard the first of many questions that were now taking over my thoughts. “What are the people around him like? What kind of security is there?”

“He will have a few people around him,” he replied, turning in his seat in the front to answer. “Rebecca will probably be there.”

I recognized the name of the precious Prince of Nashville that had come up dead while we had been there in our world. Apparently, she hadn’t met the untimely end as her counterpart had. “Are they all expendable?” I asked.

The Spaniard nodded. “Rebecca is, but I think Nez will be there and –“

“Nez?” I pressed. “As in Nez Smith?” It was amazing how some things ran parallel in this world, but others didn’t. Nez was someone I had met on my previous travels to Nashville as well. He just happened to be a friend of Micky’s, too. Small world.

“Yes. I’d hate to see him go down,” Antonio said sincerely. “I think if Wyatt weren’t in charge Nez would be okay. Alida, too.”

“Bruce, you remember Rebecca, don’t you?” Little waves of anticipation started in the base of my spine. This would be like double restitution for Sarah to kill her brother again.

“But this time I can’t hold her up for Buffy,” Bruce lamented, remembering our time in Nashville as well.

“You’ll have to do it yourself,” I replied dryly.

“What are you talking about?” Antonio asked.

“We killed her,” Bruce and I answered together.

“You were busy in your world,” Antonio said just as dry as my earlier statement.

“From what Elvira tells me,” Bruce began, “when Brenda comes to town Princes say, ‘Hide me.’”

“Princes?” Antonio’s brow creased. “There’s many Princes in your world?”

“Princes are to us, what Masters are to you,” Bruce explained. “So, what’s our cover story?”

“I don’t care,” I said coldly. “I’m going in to kill Wyatt and that’s it.” Antonio seemed surprised by my cold-hearted statement but blinked it away as he informed us that Zeke might be there as well. By now I was on total autopilot, not really knowing what I was doing, just gathering as much information as possible to carry out what needed to be done.

When we pulled up on front of The Iron, I could tell it hadn’t changed much on the outside. As we got out of the car to my surprise my cell phone rang. “Hello?” I said, thinking it might be Rafe. It wasn’t.

“Brenda?” a female voice asked.

“Yes.”

“This is Nina.”

It took me moment to remember who she was. “Nina? Hi, where are you?” Had she flipped as well? If so, then, where was she? What about Cormac and Stephen? More importantly, what about Jason? Did he flip, too?

“I’m in a nightclub called Jesters.”

“You’re in Salem?” I asked, astonished. This wasn’t making any sense. The others had stopped and waited a few feet away, knowing something big was up.

“Yeah, where are you?”

I ignored her question and asked one of my own. “Are things a little different there?”

“Different is the understatement of the year,” she said, then corrected herself, “No, my undead life.”

“Are you guys okay?” I had other questions in my head but forced myself to ask one at a time.

“I think we’ve got things a little bit under control.”

“Who’s there?”

“Cormac and a woman named Sarah.”

_Sarah?_ my mind screamed. “Sarah who?”

“Let me ask her.” I heard her move the phone from her ear and ask the question of the girl. “Her name is Sarah Hamilton,” Nina said when she came back.

“Oh, my God. Is Micky there, too?”

“Yes. And a guy named Angelus.”

“Angelus.” I remembered Antonio saying something about a vampire by that name before. Maybe the fates were working with us after all.

Nina was continuing, “And apparently Cormac’s wife, Eliza.”

“Cormac’s married?” I didn’t know the man, but it still shocked me about the married part. Apparently, things like that happened a lot between supernaturals here.

“That’s what I said. They don’t like silver and they’re all tied up.”

“You tied them up?”

“Well, yes. Cormac did.”

“What are they like?”

“I didn’t know them before, but they all seem to be – pricks. They think I’m another Nina. Where are you guys?”

“We’re in Nashville. I’m with Bruce and Christina and Rafe. Chris is on her way to the airport to ready a plane. We have to make a small stop, then we’re on our way to Salem. We should be there in about two to three hours. Are you going to stay there? Where are you at in Jesters?”

“There’s this conference room.”

I mentally envisioned the layout of the place. “Okay. Are there two doors in the room you’re in?”

“Yeah.”

“One goes downstairs. The other does to living quarters upstairs. If you are threatened in any way you can fall back there. We’ll be there as soon as possible.” I really didn’t want to make this stop now. If Nina and Cormac had Angelus there, he was who we needed to get the hell out of here.

“Okay. Call us when you get here.” Nina gave me both her cell phone number and Cormac’s.


	8. Renewing Nashville, Again

_Like a bat out of hell_   
_I’ll be gone when the morning comes._   
_ Meatloaf - Bat Out of Hell_

I replaced the phone in my pocket and quickly informed everyone of what was going on. We all agreed on the need to be expedient in our meeting with the Master and headed inside. The Iron’s layout was the same as the one I knew, but the whole place had taken on a much darker look. There were people dancing in cages and the general element was tough and pointless. I glanced to Bruce and found that he appeared to be disturbed by the changes, but no one seemed to be here against their will and we continued in.

“I know these people appear to be on our side,” I said to Bruce after I fell back to walk next to him. The room was loud, but I had no worry that others would overhear the two of us. “But I want you to know that you are the only person going into this that I trust.”

“Butch and Sundance?” he asked with a grin.

“That’s it.” I was visually sweeping the bar as we walked and didn’t like what I was seeing. Many vampires were feeding from humans throughout the crowd, which cause me to slip my hands, one at a time, under my jacket to unhook the guards that held my guns in their holsters as I took notice of all the exit points. By the looks I got from those in the crowd I came to the conclusion that the other Brenda didn’t frequent this establishment very often, but the patrons of the place knew her and I wanted to be prepared for trouble. Antonio led the way to the anteroom on the basement level where I remembered waiting just before meeting the Prince of the city in my world. T

here was a woman there. “Spaniard,” she greeted warmly. “It is good to see you. Wyatt is expecting you.”

Antonio nodded as the girl turned to me. “What are you doing here?” she asked accusingly as if she couldn’t believe her eyes.

“I was just hanging around,” I said with a nonchalant shrug, not really wanting to deal with the occupation of my counterpart.

“I thought you were going to kill her,” she said to Antonio.

“She is dead,” Bruce observed dryly.

She shook her head as if his words meant nothing. “You know I have to check you for weapons.” She took a step toward Antonio and laid a hand on his shoulder. “No weapons,” she announced proudly and regarded the rest of us. “Do I need to check these guys for weapons?”

“No.”

“Okay. I’ll take your word for it,” she said and opened the door. She obviously saw Bruce’s sword and didn’t care. This was going to be way too easy.

The room was set up the same as the one I knew, and the faces were the same with a few changes in stature. Rebecca was laying on the floor in front of the chair occupied by Wyatt and when I saw him all the emotions of what he did in my world all came rushing back with full force.

To Wyatt’s right was a girl I thought I recognized as a friend of Buffy’s. One of her helpers or something. And behind her was the lone male of Buffy’s crew, I thought his name was Xander and the girl was Willow. She was a vampire and he looked like a ghoul. I briefly wondered what the story behind her embrace was.

When my eyes fell on Zeke Mann I saw that he still had a stupid cigar hanging out of his mouth. He was one of those unfortunate of my kind who somehow get stuck in their original era. He wore a polyester leisure suit that was made in the most God-awful shade of canary yellow and the shirt he wore under it had to have come straight from John Travolta’s throwaways after the Saturday Night Fever movie. The entire look was horrible.

Nez Smith was standing off to the side and I immediately warmed to Micky’s friend who had been so kind to me in my world. I knew people were different here, but I felt like I could trust him. Hopefully I wouldn’t regret it later.

We formed a line in front of the dais and The Spaniard gave Wyatt a mock bow. “Wyatt, you requested our presence.”

“Yes,” he said as he looked us over. “I noticed a little earlier that you were being a bit _forceful,_ so I thought that it best that I found out why.” I felt the familiar waves of power the vampires from here possessed, but it didn’t really affect me. Wyatt’s gazed fell on me and he seemed a bit surprised. “What is this, The Spaniard’s revenge?”

“Could be,” I replied coolly. I was in no mood to explain myself, especially to this asshole.

“You’re awfully cocky for one newly dead,” he observed, his eyebrow raising.

“Could be,” I repeated. He was getting visibly upset with me and I didn’t care.

“Rachel,” Willow began. “Did you bring a puppy?”

“No, Will. This is my sire,” the girl replied with pride as she looked over at Bruce.

Willow looked perplexed. “I thought he was killed by that Van Dorn woman.” Rachel merely shrugged and continued to regard Bruce with love and affection.

“Zeke, it’s good to see you again,” I said to the man in the yellow leisure suit.

“Yes, it is,” Bruce added.

The grin on the other man’s face melted away as he spoke to Bruce, “I’ve never seen you before.” Then he turned to me. “I’ve only seen you on the other side of the stake.”

“Could be,” Bruce and I replied together.

“Looks like a stake would do you as much good as it would me,” Zeke observed in a cocky tone.

“Could be.” Why break my streak of using the same two-word reply?

“How dare you bring these insolent creatures into my presence,” Wyatt boomed as he got to his feet. I felt that odd power emanate from him as the room went black and I knew Bruce was sick of the banter and was getting down to business. “What the hell’s going on?” Wyatt continued to rant, and I heard gunshots ring out in the darkness. I instinctively pulled my guns, but I couldn’t see or do anything and felt useless. I hated it when he did that.

Power welled up from close to me and the two streams seemed to be fighting each other. Antonio and Wyatt must have been battling it out as more gunshots filled the room.

When the blackness faded what was left of Wyatt was burning on the floor and Rebecca had managed to slink off to one side of the room and was cowering quite convincingly. Antonio had seated himself on the throne that Wyatt had previously occupied and Willow was now standing. She appeared to be totally outraged. I wasn’t sure how they were going to respond so I pointed one Glock at Willow and the other at Zeke. No sense taking any chances.

“You should be on the other side of the stake,” he said calmly as he chewed on his cigar.

“With these, I don’t need a mere piece of wood.”

“I don’t think you need wood or a bullet for me. Good to see you where you belong, Spaniard.” He turned to face Antonio and gave him a toothy grin.

“Yes. I’m glad this has been taken care of. Now we can restore the city to its original glory.” Antonio gave Zeke a slight smile in return and regarded the rest of the room. Willow looked as if she were about to protest and found herself being pulled rather roughly down into her chair by one of Bruce’s shadowy tendrils.

“Puppy,” she said harshly as she glanced over her shoulder at Xander. “What are you doing?”

“I didn’t do anything, mistress. I swear.” He looked really petrified. Obviously, their relationship was a strict one.

“That was fast,” Nez put in. “I expected more of a fight. How’d you do that shadow thing?” he asked looking from Bruce to myself.

“Just lucky there was a power failure when there was,” Bruce replied with a shrug. He was really great at blowing his powers off when he didn’t want to explain them.

“I don’t think so.” Nez wasn’t convinced.

Enough was enough. The job was done and I wanted to get home. I holstered the gun in my right hand and went to the dais and kissed Antonio’s hand. “Good luck,” I said then caught Rebecca out of the corner of my eye. “What do you want done with that?”

“I’ll deal with her. I understand that you have pressing business in Salem and I won’t keep you any longer.”

“You’re going to Salem?” Nez asked from behind me.

“Yes,” I replied stepping back down and holstering the other gun.

“I have a friend in Salem, and I know he needs assistance. He’s under the power of a woman there, Sarah –“

“You mean Micky?” I asked knowingly.

“Yes. Micky George. If it’s possible, I’d like to see him brought to Nashville.” He looked wary making the request, but he probably figured he didn’t have anything to lose by asking.

“We’ll do what we can,” Bruce said.

“I would appreciate it. I can’t go myself. If I do, they will kill him.”

“I’ll send him,” I promised. If he weren’t being treated well, I would do what I could to help.

We left a few minutes later and were on our way to the airport. I wanted to get home so bad I didn’t care about anything else. I realized that Bruce was trying to get my attention and I blinked as I looked at him.

“What’s the matter?” he asked.

“Nothing.”

“You’re zoning,” he prodded.

“It’s nothing,” I repeated.

“Brenda, there’s always something going on with you.”

“I’m fine,” I said a little too harshly and he didn’t ask again. I really didn’t mean to be rude or anything, but now that the pressing matter of Wyatt was over, I wanted to be gone. Out of here.

We arrived at the airport a short time later and found that everything was secure. I boarded the plane and removed Rafe’s jacket that I had put on when we were still in our world. I went to the couch and sat there with my feet tucked under me without saying a word to anyone. Rafe came to sit next to me but didn’t say anything. I really didn’t notice. It was two in the morning and time was ticking away. We had to hurry.

_Brenda,_ I heard in my head.

_Yeah._ It was Christina using our mental link.

_Are you planning on staying in this world?_

_What are you talking about?_ I was outraged her would even suggest such a thing. It was impossible.

_Just answer the question,_ she pressed and I looked across the plane to glare at her.

_No._

_Are you planning on getting back with Michael when we get back to our world?_

That was almost too much. My eyes narrowed before I answered, _No._ What in the hell was she trying to prove?

_Then why are you blowing it with the ghoul?_ she scolded. I glanced at Rafe then and saw that he was in deep study of his hands that were lying in his lap. Usually when we sat this close one of us had an arm around the other, but I had been too distracted to notice.

_What has he said? _I asked.

_It’s what he hasn’t said. And you know, he really reminds me of Luke that night he saw me going for the ring._ I switched positions a little and put a foot on the floor. _Are you going to let this happen?_

_No._ I didn’t know what I was going to do at the moment, but I wasn’t going to let this go on either. Rafe had to stop being so insecure about Michael. I loved the present, not the past. Michael and I were through and that was that.

_Then you better do something about it,_ Christina interjected. I looked around for a place for us to talk and saw only the single bedroom in the back of the cabin. I stood and leaned over to grab Rafe’s hand and pull on it gently.

“Come with me,” I urged.


	9. Coming to Terms

_Your hands are in my hair_   
_but my heart is in your teeth baby_   
_and it makes me want to make_   
_you near me always._   
_ Jewel - Near Me Always_

“Okay,” Rafe replied noncommittally. We went back to the bedroom and I closed the door behind us. Rafe looked incredibly depressed and I felt guilty because I knew his mood was my fault. He only acted this way when he thought about me going back to Michael. I pulled him over to the bed and we sat side by side. I had to turn his face for him to look at me.

“Are you alright?” I asked.

“Yeah. I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not.” The numbness that had taken over my mind earlier was gone, and I was thinking clearly again.

“Yes I am. Did everything go okay with the Master?” he asked trying to change the subject.

“Yeah. He’s dead,” I said with a small grin. “But I’m not worried about that.” What I was worried about was Rafe’s insecurities. They had to stop here and now and there was no way around it. I vowed Rafe would never again feel like the runner up to Michael Moorecock.

“Why would you, he’s dead?” Rafe was trying really hard to sound blasé as he studied his hands in his lap. I didn’t know if I wanted to strangle him or kiss him. I understood how he felt in a way. I couldn’t count the number of times I had pictured Michael with other women after he first left, and it made me feel more vulnerable than I could remember. How could I turn Rafe’s feelings around?

“If you’re thinking I want to stay here, you’re wrong,” I blurted out.

Rafe blinked as if he never expected me to bring the subject up. “Why would you think that, Brenda?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” I shrugged. “What are you thinking?” I didn’t want him to feel like he was being put on the spot even though he was. _Keep it light,_ I told myself.

He reached over and took my hand. “I’m trying not to,” he replied with a stiff grin that faded as soon as it appeared.

“We have to get back,” I insisted, squeezing his hand. My voice was a little breathless. “This isn’t our life.”

Rafe nodded. “That’s the point, to get back.” He sounded so unconvinced. Why couldn’t he believe me that I didn’t want to be with Michael anymore?

“We have to make sure those little girls have a mother.” How could I make him understand that my concern was for Anna and Brenna? It wasn’t their fault that some asshole thought it would be funny to switch their mother with a look alike that could eat them for dinner if she chose. Not only was it important to get home to help the Elvira, it was vital to get Brenda Moorecock back here for her children.

“Yeah,” he agreed after a moment.

I wasn’t getting through to him. Maybe it was too late. I stood, tears forming in my eyes as I walked to the other side of the room. What else could I say to make him believe me? Thoughts were clouding my senses and I was unaware that Rafe had followed me until I felt his hands on my arms. “Brenda, what’s wrong?”

“I don’t want you to be upset with me,” I sniffed as I rubbed my eyes.

“Why would I be?” he asked, but I heard the edge still there.

“Because I feel that you think I wish this was my life or that I want to stay here.” I turned in his arms to look into his eyes. The clear green pools mirrored my own concerns.

“And you don’t?” He sounded a little surprised as he wiped my cheeks.

“No, Rafe. This is not my life. This is something that can never happen for me. It’s destined never to happen. And, I feel like shit because every time something happens about Michael I feel as if you get all insecure. That this is some game that you’re going to be the loser in and that’s not true.” There, it was all on the table now. If Rafe and I are going to work, the decision was going to happen here and now. Either he believed me or when we got back to our world, I would cut him loose. Even though the thought of that broke my heart.

“I know you love him,” he began hesitantly. “I know that if given the choice that’s the kind of life you would have had. You would have had the house with the white picket fence and the two point five kids and a dog in the backyard. I know that’s what you would have wanted and it’s not something you can have in our world so why wouldn’t I think you wanted to stay here?”

“Rafe, how could I stay here?” I implored, tears forming in my eyes again. “How could I stay here even if I wanted to?” Michael had already made it crystal clear what he thought of the vampiric me. Even if I wanted to stay here, I would be left all alone and that wasn’t a life.

Rafe shook his head. “I don’t know. You can’t deny that this would be what you wanted.”

I was starting to get angry now. Why couldn’t he just believe me? “Who doesn’t want the perfect life?” I raged loudly. “Wouldn’t you like to have the house with th-“

“Well I wouldn’t want to live next door to you knowing you were married to Michael,” Rafe exclaimed.

I calmed and started over. “I understand that. It’s just something that’s not going to happen, and I can accept that.”

“And in our world Michael is an asshole.”

“Yes.” I knew that better than anyone.

“What if tomorrow he wasn’t an asshole?” Rafe asked, eyeing me speculatively. “What would you do then?”

I thought a second before replying. Even if Michael were to change it wouldn’t make a difference between what had happened with him and I. Yes, I still had feelings for Michael, but I wasn’t going take the chance of him hurting me again. I wouldn’t live through another rejection like that. “I’d be happy for him,” I finally answered with a shrug.

“And that’s it?”

“Yes, Rafe. I am committed to you. I have spent the last two years of my life putting Michael out of my mind.” I knew what I was saying was true. If it wasn’t, I would never have gotten involved with Rafe in the first place. Tears were forming in my eyes again and I could also hear someone in the back of my head crying as well. I realized that I hadn’t let the mental link go and I was still connected with Christina.

“But you can’t deny you still love him,” Rafe was accusing.

I didn’t take the time to break the connection. “I will always have feelings for him,” I admitted, not for the first time.

“Jesus, I hate that line,” he cursed as he looked away. He would have stepped out of my grasp if I hadn’t grabbed his arms and held him there.

“Rafe, I’m sorry. He was my first love. You will always have feelings for your first love and I’m not going to hold that against you because I can’t change it.” Didn’t he know how much I wanted to put those feelings behind me? I couldn’t stop loving Michael any easier than I could my own father. Michael was a part of my life that I would never forget, just like Rafe himself was. Why couldn’t he see that?

I must have made some sense because Rafe pulled me against his chest then and kissed the top of my head. “I won’t be so quick to think that way. I promise,” he vowed. “I know that you love me, and I love you. And I don’t want to drive you away with my suspicions.”

I lifted my head from his chest and looked up at him. “I don’t want to drive you away by letting you continue to think that way. I won’t leave you, Rafe. That’s not what I want. I want you. I want us to be together.”

“That’s what I want, too.” He kissed my waiting lips and I sobbed against his mouth.

_Brenda_, I heard my sister in my head, and I started to giggle.

“What?” Rafe asked, pulling back with a wry smile. “Did I tickle you?”

“No. Christina,” I choked out.

“You’re not doing the mind…” he trailed off.

“I didn’t realize it was still there.”

“Lovely,” he drawled, and I kissed him again as I said goodbye to Christina and shut off the link.

We moved to the bed and held each other for the rest of the flight. Before the plane landed Nina called to let us know that the Angel from our world had just switched with his counterpart. She reported that he knew a ritual that would take us all back but in order to do it, he needed Elvira’s ring.

She also dropped another bomb of sorts. Evidently, Cormac had killed the Micky from this world. She didn’t elaborate on the reason why and I was too shocked to really get into it. For the most part, the people I had encountered so far had the same basic personalities as those that I knew in our reality. Yes, some were darker in nature, but I couldn’t imagine Micky being so different that Cormac had found it necessary to kill him. I wasn’t happy about the situation, but it was a little late now. I wouldn’t be able to keep my promise to Nez about sending Micky to him and my heart felt heavy. I owed my dear friend so much and I had looked on the simple task as a way of repaying some of the debt.


	10. Conversation with an Old Friend

_We’re all held captive_  
_out from the sun_  
_a sun that shines on only some._  
_ Creed - My Own Prison_

I understood her shock. If I were her, I would feel very violated right now, but it had to be done. _Who are you?_ she asked.

_I am one who comes here seeking to aid you in your plight._ The Elvira I knew understood the importance of having others there to back her up. I hoped this Elvira was the same.

_What is it you want of me? _Her tone was suspicious, and I knew I had my work cut out for me. I had to get her to agree to help us without giving her too much information. It would be very hard because I already had such trust in the woman that I knew. I had to remember she wasn’t that Elvira.

_Your help,_ I replied.

_To do what?_

_Assist you to become the strong leader I know you are._ It wasn’t all bullshit. I knew Elvira had what it took to turn the city around.

_If you already know I am a strong leader, how do you think you can help me?_

_I know whose influence you are under._ Her surprise registered again, and I was sorry to exploit her weakness.

_Who is this?_ she demanded. It wasn’t prudent to divulge anything about myself yet. I didn’t know how much I could trust this version of Elvira. I projected an image of Beth and Akari to her in hopes of establishing exactly how much I knew about her situation. _You are not either of those,_ she commented.

_No, I am not._

_Who are you? _she repeated.

_You do not know me._

_What is it, then, you think I can help you with? _I was surprised at the amount of control she was showing. I must have piqued her interest enough for she to continue listening.

_There is something of yours I need to borrow for a short time._

_What would that be?_ I thought of her ring and I knew she saw it when I once again registered her surprise. _What do you need that for?_

_To return to the place I need to be._

_Where is that?_ I sent a picture of the Bathori Mansion, as I knew it and she soon replied._ You need my ring to get to my house?_

_Do you see any differences?_

_Some that could be explained by your difference of perception,_ she countered.

_Could be._ I decided to take a little plunge. _I am not from this place._

Suspicion rose from her again as she asked,_ Where are you from?_

_An alternative one._

_You said you’re here to help me. What would you do?_ I pictured Akari and Beth’s headless bodies and she asked,_ And you would you do that? When did you plan on attempting this coup?_

_At your closest convenience,_ I replied as I attempted to see if she were lying. She wasn’t.

_Yours or mine?_

_Mine._

_And when would that be?_ I could tell she was warming to the idea.

_As soon as I can get to them._

_I can try to arrange for you to get to them._

_When?_

_Are you in town?_

_I’m closer than you think._ It was hard to maintain the ambiguity, but I had to.

_Are you aware of the club opening tomorrow night?_ I received a picture of the front of Guilty Pleasures that closely resembled the one I had helped oversee construction of for the Prince in my reality. I remembered that the same club was scheduled to open in my Salem as well, leading me to assume that at least some things happened at the same time in this world as well. _They will be there with me tomorrow night,_ Elvira was saying.

_And can I trust you?_ I asked.

_Can I trust you?_ she countered.

_Do you have the ability to sense whether I’m lying to you or not?_

_Yes._

_Then yes, you can trust me._

_You can trust me as well._

She wasn’t lying either and relief flooded through me. _I’d hoped that your soul was the same._

_My soul? The club opens at sundown. We’ll be there at seven._

_Very good._ I saw an image of a door that I recognized in the side of the building. _Is this my way in?_

_It’s my way in._

_Very good. _The connection broke then and I blinked open my eyes, feeling really drained. I glanced around the room and saw that all eyes were on me.

“So, what kind of spooky-boo, Bren?” my sister asked.

“Excedrin,” I replied shakily as Rafe moved around the table to stand behind me. “The little mind trick our sire taught us has paid off.”

“Really? I’m assuming you didn’t get a hold of our sire?”

“No. The Master of this city.” There was an audible inhalation from Sarah.

“You really need to teach me that,” Bruce said sincerely and we both laughed.

Christina piped in to say, “We need to teach a lot of people that, but we need to check with Antonio first.”

“Yes,” I nodded, “and the council.”

“How did you get a hold of the Master of the city?” Faith asked, astonished.

“Is this not an ability you have?” No use in letting her in on our secret. The pain in my temple was increasing and I put a finger to the affected area. I felt Rafe’s hands on my shoulders and that anchored me to continue being a part of the conversation.

“Not to snap my fingers and talk to the Master, no. Not that I’d want to,” she mused. She then turned to Bruce to ask, “Is she crazy?”

“It’s some crazy, mental spooky-boo thing,” he informed her.

“What is spooky-boo?”

“Magic. You know, poof.” He flicked his fingers outward and allowed shadows to spring out and tickle her cheek before recoiling back to his hand. Rachel giggled in astonishment.

“How much do you have her under control?” I asked Cormac, nodding toward Sarah. I was still feeling pretty weak and had a killer headache, so I didn’t want to get into any kind of skirmish until I felt better.

He glanced at the woman nonchalantly before answering. “Well enough for the moment.”

“Can we discuss strategy in front of her?” I glanced at her myself and saw that she was trying in vain to appear innocent. I already knew I wouldn’t, but maybe if she thought we were starting to trust her she would let something slip.

“I would prefer not to.”

“Very well. Shall we go upstairs then? Has anyone been up there?” The pain was subsiding a little, so it was easier to think about the next step that we had to take.

“Yes. It’s like you said it would be,” Nina said.

From the corner of my eyes I saw someone approached the body on the table. I turned my head in time to see Eliza pulling a cross from the waistband of Micky’s pants and put it in her pocket. “I think I can keep an eye on them for you,” she said, indicating Faith and Rachel with her thumb.

“Let me guess,” I asked rather dryly. “You’re a hunter, aren’t you?”

“Yeah,” she said with a grin. “Why am I in your world, too? He said he doesn’t know me.” She indicated Cormac with a trace of sadness in her dark eyes. This version of the woman seemed a little softer than the one I knew. Don’t get me wrong, she was still hard around the edges, but there was an underlying sense of contentment. I assumed it was happiness.

“Yeah, as far as I can tell. We’ve had a few run-ins.” I looked at Cormac, who was holding another gun in his left hand. “Are you leaving her in charge?”

“Do you have a better choice?”

“I really don’t know.” I turned to Faith, “Sorry.”

“Sometimes you just have to have faith,” Bruce lamented as he gave Rachel’s hand a squeeze and we headed for the door that led upstairs, Christina in the lead.

As her hand reached for the door she stopped and turned to Angel. “Did anyone else flip?”

He had remained silent, keeping an eye on the group and waiting for the time when we had the ring so he could perform the ritual. “No. As far as I know this is everybody.”

She had been asking about Jason and I was glad he was waiting in Salem. _We’ll see him soon,_ I thought to myself and with that we went upstairs.


	11. New Salem

_Blind in my fear, I was escaping just to feel._  
_ 10,000 Maniacs - Circle Dream_

I hung up with Nina after telling her we would be there soon, and Rafe and I joined the others to let them know what was happening. We landed in Salem around three in the morning local time and found a limousine waiting to take us to Jesters. The streets of this Salem were very different from the town I knew. Like Nashville, the downtown area was filled with closed businesses and people who lived on the edge of humanity. How could Elvira let this happen? The only reason I could think of was that she really had no idea.

Even Jesters was different. The layout was the same, but the music was hard and heavy, the lyrics twisted. There was lots of leather and tattoos on the patrons and we quickly made our way to the doors that led to the conference room where our friends waited.

I was busy checking out the surroundings as we made our way through the crowded bar. I was having a hard time believing that this place was related in any way to the Jester’s I knew. The lights were low and there was a thick layer of smoke through the room. Rafe took my hand and I squeezed it reassuringly and gave him a slight smile.

My heart dropped as I watched Christina walk into the unguarded door as if there was nothing to be worried about. She’d come back from her latest adventure changed and I hadn’t had time to realize how much. Was it Jason and their breakup? I didn’t think she was aware that her former lover had come to Salem with Cormac and Nina. We’d need to talk, that was certain, I found myself thinking as the rest of us quickly caught up, but by the time I got to the door myself, my sister was at the top of the stairs.

“Chris,” I hissed. Damn, did she always just walk into sticky situations without taking the time to check things out?

“What?” she asked as she turned.

“Ah, do you want to get shot?” I replied lowly. “Do you want to just walk into something blindly? Have you forgotten everything you know?” Based on the stories she had told me, I thought she would have more caution.

She leaned back against the door jam and we exchanged pointed looks. _You may be the Mother, _she said sharply in my head,_ but you’re not my mother._

_If you didn’t act like an impertinent child, then perhaps I wouldn’t have to act like your mother. I understand you have a strong need to return to our world but,_ -she pulled her weapon and checked the clip before putting it back in its holster – _it won’t do Jason any good if you get yourself killed._

“Reow,” she replied out loud.

I started up the stairs, pulling a Glock on the way. Just as I reached the door at the top it opened, and Cormac stood there. “Ladies.”

“Is she always like this?” Bruce asked Christina.

She glanced back at him and rolled her eyes. “You’ve been with her for the last two years. You should know this. How ya doin’, Cormac?” she asked turning to the man in the doorway.

“Can we enter please?” he asked and stepped aside enough for us to file in.

“Yeah, it’s chilly out here,” Christina replied going in and I rolled my eyes. Sometimes, my sister could be a real shithead.

“Mind the blood stain and the bitch in the chair,” he said without feeling. We walked in the conference room and I was horrified to see the bloody remains of a man lying on the table. When I looked closer, I was thrown even further to recognize that the body was Micky. I was shocked. Thanks to Nina, I already knew he was dead, but to see the body was still a surprise.

Christina had taken up position leaning against the wall while Bruce and Rachel stood together close to the door. Cormac shut and locked it then went to stand by a girl that looked like Eliza, my piece of shit van girl. Faith, a vampire from our Nashville, was there as well and when Rachel recognized her, she went to kiss the other vampire’s jugular vein in some kind of odd greeting. Angel was there, too, and we exchanged nods as I glanced at my watch. It was almost three-thirty. The night was wasting away.

“He’s looked better,” Bruce commented, eyeing the body.

Sarah was sitting in a chair across the table from where Christina stood. Tied up was more like it. She was dressed in tight, black leather. Not at all like the Sarah I knew.

“Why is she tied up in the chair?” Bruce asked with a frown.

Rafe had come up behind me and had placed a hand at the small of my back. I was trembling a little at the sight of Micky’s body. I looked around the room for something to cover what remained of Micky’s head and saw a bandana tied around Sarah’s arm. I had to pass Cormac to get to her. “Nice job,” I mumbled when I walked by.

“Thank you,” he replied evenly. His very demeanor was cold and calculating. I found it hard to believe that Christina trusted him so much. She was usually a good judge of character, but this guy was a dick. He had no respect for others and didn’t care that he showed it. I promised myself that I wasn’t going to let this guy get to me. We had to work together to get home.

As I approached her, I felt the familiar power roll from her like a strong perfume but again, it didn’t influence me. When it became apparent what I was doing Cormac said evenly, “Don’t touch her please.” Like I was going to listen to him. What harm would it do?

“Go ahead. Take it,” Sarah purred. For the hell of it I tried a little of my own power to influence her but wasn’t sure how well it worked. A shadow dropped over her eyes like a blindfold and I smiled a little as I continued to reach for the bandana. Sometimes Bruce’s skills came in handy.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Cormac said as my fingers closed around the fabric. Out of nowhere a small cut appeared on the back of my hand. Apparently, these vampires had other abilities that I haven’t found out about yet. I brought my hand to my mouth and tried to lick the small wound closed but when it didn’t work, I had to manipulate my blood instead. I glanced over my shoulder to Nina and commented, “She appears to be a bitch.”

“Why thank you, thank you very much,” Sarah said with a wide smile. She wasn’t intimidated at all that she couldn’t see.

Cormac came up then and tried to elbow me out of the way. Like that was going to happen. When I didn’t move, he went to Sarah’s other side and sat on the table in front of her. He had a gun in his hand. “I killed Micky like the dog he was,” he said in the same cool tone as he pointed the gun to her forehead. “And I will kill you like the bitch you are.” He nudged her head with the tip of the barrel before continuing. “Knock it off and shut up. One word and I’ll pull the trigger.”

Bruce interjected. “Cormac, right now she is the only person in this room with knowledge of this area.”

“Like hell she is,” he ground out. Then without taking is gaze off Sarah he said, “Bruce, have you met the other Cormac’s wife, Eliza?”

“Greetings, my lady,” he said with a slight bow that she didn’t acknowledge.

“Your rash actions have already cost one life tonight,” I said. “Do we really need to make it two?” I didn’t know how they did things in Los Angeles, but it appeared like they killed first and asked questions later, when it was too late.

“Brenda,” Nina began, “you’ve said yourself, she’s a bitch.”

“That doesn’t mean she doesn’t have information we need to know,” I pointed out. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. It was like the most basic of interrogation tactics had been thrown out the window.

“She’s been like this all night long,” she countered.

I’ve never met two people who were so quick to kill. Even Michael had spent some time in Los Angeles, so I knew it was a hard city, but good God, it wasn’t that bad. Didn’t they take the time to learn _anything_ before pulling the trigger? “Maybe she’s mentally linked with the Master,” I suggested, “and they know everything we’re saying.”

“Drop it,” Cormac was telling Sarah and the power surge fell off. “Thank you.” I still wanted to cover the bloody mess across the table and reached again for the bandana. “Please don’t,” he said.

“I just want to cover Micky’s head,” I said, pointing at the body.

“He doesn’t have a head anymore.” His cold demeanor was disheartening. I was having trouble understanding how someone could be that uncaring and still have the beast under control.

“What’s left of it,” I conceded. The shadow around Sarah’s eyes dispersed and Cormac pulled the gun from her head and put it on the table next to him.

Sarah settled the matter. “By all means,” she said lifting her arm to make it easier to remove the fabric. “I don’t like to look at dinner when I can’t have it.”

I rolled my eyes, annoyed with her mean streak and took the scarf. I rounded the table again and carefully draped the scarf over what was left of Micky’s head.

“You may speak,” Cormac was telling Sarah, “nicely.”

“Puppy was her human servant,” she smirked, indicating the body. “You hurt him, and you hurt her. The question is, how badly?”

I watched her, trying to gauge how much I could trust her. I didn’t sense that she was lying, and her aura said nothing of it either. If I understood her correctly, domitors of this world had a physical bond with their ghouls. Now we were getting somewhere. Knowledge like that was unbelievably useful. “So, there is a bond between them?” I asked, coming back around to stand next to her again.

“Yes,” Sarah said like I should know. From the corner of my eye I saw Faith’s head nod from her position near the door.

“So right now, she’s probably not to happy,” Bruce commented to no one in particular.

I had an idea. I knew that at higher levels of Auspex it was possible to communicate with others. It was a lot like the ability that I shared with my sire, Christina and Michael, but it could be used on anyone. I have been concentrating my studies lately on developing my own Auspex abilities in the hopes of one-day being able to advance to that level. I wondered if I could contact Elvira if I tried. I sat down in an empty chair next to Sarah and closed my eyes, intent on trying. I developed a mental image of my mentor as I knew her in my mind and tried to detect her thoughts on a sub-conscience level.

After a minute or two I felt a stab of pain and felt sure it was Elvira. I sensed she was fighting to control the pain and I lent her what mental strength I could. After a few minutes the pain eased enough for me to send out a mental message to her. _Be strong. All is not yet lost._


	12. Making Plans

_So sign up all you raw recruits_   
_throw away those designer suits_   
_ Meatloaf - Everything Larger Than Everything Else_

“Have a seat,” I said upon entering the living room. “I’m going to look for refreshments.” I went to the lab area where I knew there were blood bags stashed in my world. I wasn’t low by any means, but I didn’t think it a bad idea to fill up if I had the chance and no telling what condition the others were in. I looked in the usual place and found nothing, so I started looking in other cabinets.

“Are you looking for something specific, Brenda?” I turned and found that Cormac had followed.

“I’m a little down. I’d like to go into this situation full, but there isn’t anything here.” I wondered why he had followed me.

Cormac went to the door of the lab and opened it. “Nina, do you still have the box?”

I heard the young woman answer and soon she popped her head in the door. In her hand was a box I hadn’t noticed before.

“We do have some blood on tap,” Cormac said. I assumed it was the box Christina had mentioned earlier and when I saw it, I knew who it belonged to.

“Antonio,” I breathed.

“Yeah,” Nina said with a slight smile.

“Cool. Gotta love dad.” Nina lifted the lid and held it out for me. I looked inside and saw that the bottom of the box was covered in clear blue stones that swirled with beautiful colors. The box also held a small tray that sat on a ledge of the box to stay separate from the others. The tray also held swirling stones, but these were topaz in color and there were far less than the blue. They belonged to Antonio’s old companion, Idella. She was the Tremere primogen in Las Vegas and far more powerful that my sire. I didn’t want to take them. We might need powerful blood later if things got hairy, so I didn’t want to waste them.

I allowed my fingers to glide along a few of the blue stones in the bottom of the box and felt my sires blood course through my veins once again.

“Do you know the difference?” Nina asked.

“Well, those are Antonio’s,” I said, pointing to the blues. “And the others belong to someone he’s known for a long time and will give you a boost.”

“What about everyone else?” Rafe asked with a nod at the door.

“There’s enough there. I’m sure Antonio wouldn’t mind. I believe Bruce is down and I don’t know what Chris has been doing.” With that we returned to the living room. Nina told me that Antonio had lent her the box when she and Cormac had last seen him in Los Angeles. “Nina has Capri Sun dots,” I announced. Those that wanted to, fed from the box then Cormac and Bruce went downstairs to check on the others.

“So, what’s our plan?” I asked. “Where are we going to sleep?”

“Good idea,” Angel replied. “Do you know who lives here?”

“Sarah does, right Nina?” I turned to the girl.

“Yes. Sarah owns Jesters so it’s safe to assume we’ll be secure here.”

We agreed that the living accommodations would be safe enough to stay in for the day. Rafe and Eliza were here and could help stand watch during the day and I was sure there had to be some kind of security in place. We started laying down some groundwork for what would happen the next night. When Bruce and Cormac rejoined us, I informed them that I had made contact with Elvira and had struck up a deal of sorts. We would get rid of Beth and Akari and she would let us “borrow” her ring.

“I thought Elvira in this world was a bad guy,” Christina commented. “Can we trust her?”

“We can trust her as far as we need to. I know the rest of you don’t, but Bruce and I have a certain amount of loyalty to this person. If she shows me that she isn’t worthy of my loyalty than she won’t have it.” My eyes fell on Rafe and I realized how tired he looked. I asked him to find feathers so the Tremere of the company could perform the ritual and he went off.

The ladies were brought up from conference room and it was decided that Eliza would take the first watch, giving Rafe the opportunity to get some rest first. Rafe found feathers and they were dispersed to those who could use them. I told him to go find somewhere to get some sleep and I would find him later.

After Rafe went off down the hall that led to the two bedrooms, Cormac approached me and asked if he could have a word in private. I was a little hesitant at first but agreed. Up to this point Cormac had been condescending and rude to me and I couldn’t imagine what he wanted. The living room was pretty large, so we went off to one side to have our discussion.

When we alone Cormac said that he was interested in my telepathic abilities and asked if it worked on anyone. I explained that our sire with the consent of the council taught the ability that I shared with Christina to me.

“I am not asking to learn it,” he explained. “I was merely wondering if you could contact anyone else like you did with Elvira tonight. If I am to be in a room full of enemies tomorrow night, it would be helpful to be able to contact you if I was in trouble.”

“Well, I haven’t really tried. Contacting Elvira tonight was pure luck, but if you want me to try I will.”

“As you wish.” He seemed a little disconcerted at my inability and said we would work it out.

Eliza produced a sketch of Guilty Pleasures, but it wasn’t the same layout that I was familiar with. The club didn’t officially open until tomorrow night, but she explained that she was starting to work there and that was how she knew it so well. I took a moment to look over the sketch to reestablish my bearings with the differences. We grouped around each other and decided that the best place to ambush Elvira and her party was in a room where the Master’s private elevator opened. Apparently, that was where the door led that Elvira had shown to me during our mental conversation and Eliza agreed to help us get into the room where the elevator opened.

Cormac commented that he thought the ambush should happen as soon as possible. He and Nina had found out during their time with Sarah that an attempt was going to be made on Elvira’s life tomorrow at eight o’clock. Evidently, Sarah was in league with my old buddy Malachi and a few others that I knew from Salem. Among them was someone that I hadn’t heard of in a long time.

Father Abraham was the leader of the Cenaculum, a group of Inquisitor style hunters, when Elvira had been kidnapped and apparently, he still lived in this world. Between Bruce and I, we were able to bring the others up to speed on what the players looked like and any other idiosyncrasies we could think of.

Dawn was fast approaching, so we finalized our plans and prepared to bed down for the day. I found Rafe in the extra bedroom. He hadn’t fallen asleep yet and when I entered, he sat up. “Everything okay?” he asked.

There was a knock at the door before I had a chance to respond. “Come in.”

It was Cormac. He had been told there were extra clothes in the closet, and he wanted to pick out something before he went to sleep. Without preamble he gave a huge gun complete with a harness to wear under a trench coat to Rafe and excused himself. Time was quickly slipping away so we got into bed and I performed the Wake With Mornings Freshness ritual and we slept.

**~*~*~*~*~**

Eliza had made the arrangements and by six-thirty the next evening we were in position at Guilty Pleasures. Bruce and Rachel were waiting on the other side of a door that opened to a stairwell to the main level of the bar, while the rest of us lurked by the elevator. The room was situated so that the elevator was nestled in one corner, leaving a large space next to it that was a big blind spot to someone coming off the elevator itself. That was where most of us waited.

We had brought Sarah along because we didn’t want to leave her at Jesters to be discovered by her friends and tell them of our plans. Angel and Faith were keeping an eye on her in one corner, so she didn’t cause us any problems. Cormac was on the wall where the elevator shaft was located while Nina, Rafe and myself waited on the wall opposite them.

My only concern was that when bullets started to fly Beth and Akari would be able to slip back into the elevator and escape. The controls were on the opposite side of the elevator from where we waited so the only thing I could think of was to put Christina there to destroy the controls.

“Christina, your job is to disable the elevator as soon as everyone is off it,” I told her as we settled in.

“Okay,” she replied with a nervous laugh, “just don’t shoot me or anything.” The elevator mechanisms engaging ceased any more conversation. I glanced at Rafe and gave him a reassuring smile that he returned.

We all heard the mechanisms trigger that started the elevator upward. The time had come for us to go into action and I felt the familiar adrenaline rush spring into my veins, and I took a final glance around the room. Everyone was ready.

The doors opened and Akari walked out into the room, glancing around. Beth was just starting out when Akari caught sight of Rafe and I and went for a gun under his jacket. I aimed and fired.


	13. What Have I Done?

_And through the life force_   
_and there goes her friend_   
_ Tori Amos - Bells For Her_

The phosphorous round hit Christina in the side. If she hadn’t already had her back against the wall, the force of the impact would have put her there anyway. She managed to keep her position long enough to fire at Akari and hit him in the shoulder, then her gun hand fell to her side.

I was aware of other shoots being fired in the small room, but I stood in horror. _I shot Christina._ The thought roared through my head as I watched her sink to the floor, and I couldn’t help but remember how I had felt when the other Rafe told me the Christina of this world was killed by the other me. Her coat and shirt were red with her blood. Thankfully she hadn’t ignited, but that wasn’t a great comfort.

I was brought back to reality when a bullet hit the wall between Rafe and I. She would need blood and my only thought was to get to Christina to see how bad it was. I dodged past flying bullets and bodies to get to her. She was barely conscious, and I felt the tears flow down my cheeks.

“Nice shot, Brenda,” she half laughed, half coughed as I knelt beside her. Nina came up then and I turned to her.

“Where’s the box?” I asked. Nina brought it forward without a word and I took Christina’s hand to help guide it inside. In order for her to take in the blood she would have to touch the stones herself and I guided her fingers to the ones that belonged to Idella. It would be more helpful now for Christina to use the more powerful blood. I carefully lowered her hand so I could check her side and saw that the wound wasn’t bleeding anymore. That much was good, but it was still open.

Gunfire continued to fly around us and I was aware that Rafe was now at my side along with Nina. I assumed he was keeping an eye on our backs, but frankly I didn’t care at the moment. I helped Christina take more ‘blood’ from the box, but every time I examined the wound, I found that it wasn’t closing. I knew it was bad. As Kindred, we can heal most wounds almost instantaneously with the exception of fire, sunlight and slashes from Protean or Lupine claws. Since the round I had used was phosphorus and therefore fire, Christina would have to rest continually for many nights before the wound totally went away. We had to get the ring and return home as soon as possible.

The shooting had stopped and when I glanced over my shoulder, I saw that everything was under control. Cormac was facing Elvira; ashes littered the floor between them. He was holding his hand out to her as he said, “Your ring, my lady.” She removed a silver ring from her hand and gave it to Cormac who in turn handed it to Angel.

“Now we just need somewhere to do the ritual,” he said as he put the ring in the pocket of his black pants and regarded the rest of the group for ideas.

“The building next door is empty,” Elvira suggested.

Thankfully, Christina was still conscious, and I helped her get comfortable until we figured out our next step.

“What do we do now?” Faith asked Elvira.

“We let these people go next door and do what they have to, and we’ll take care of everything else,” Elvira replied as her eyes swept over the rest of us. She looked as if she wanted to say something else but didn’t.

“Where will you be at eight o’clock?” Cormac asked. He hadn’t put away any of his guns, even though the everyone else had, and he stood ready to used them again.

“Probably here why?”

“Just wondering. Be careful,” he replied then started to walk toward us. It wasn’t necessary for Cormac to tell Elvira about the attempted coup that was scheduled. Faith knew already, but I thought it was rude not to tell the woman herself.

“Are you sure it’s okay to give her those?” Nina asked. She must have just realized what blood I was giving Christina.

“Mm-hmm. It’s fine.”

“Whose are they?” Cormac asked stopping a few feet from where Christina was propped against the wall.

“Idella,” was all I said.

We left Guilty Pleasures and headed for the building next door, Christina leaning heavily between Rafe and me. Rachel and Eliza went with us as well, and I was happy for the extra eyes they provided. The door was locked, but that didn’t stop us. There was a window in the door that Eliza broke with her elbow before reaching in to unlock it and we filed in.

Once inside the building we quickly formed a circle as Angel pulled a plastic bag of dirt from his pocket and began to sprinkle it in an eight-foot circle around us. Once that was done, Angel put a leaf on each of the four compass points and handed each of us a rust colored stone. I pressed Christina’s into her hand and helped her hold it.

Cormac took out one of his pistols and removed all but one of the phosphorus rounds and bent over to leave it at his feet. “For your husband's safety,” he said to Eliza and she nodded in understanding.

Good-byes were quickly made to our new friends, but all I wanted to do was get home. Christina was in bad shape and she needed to get into bed and fast. Rachel and Eliza stepped back so they didn’t flip with us and Angel gave us a chant to recite. From the center of the circle came the familiar flash of light before everything went black.

Then I saw visions of my life. I was back behind the front desk counter at Caesar’s Palace, seeing Michael for the first time. Then I saw the first time he fed me his blood, fully introducing me to the world of eternal night. Finally, I was looking at Rafe propped against the door of my bedroom at the Bathori Mansion. He was covered in his own blood and I fed him from my wrist in hopes of saving his life.


	14. Home Again, Home Again

_I don’t need your sympathy_   
_there’s nothing you can say or do for me_   
_ Cher - Strong Enough_

I found myself standing in a rather nice cell with Rafe, Bruce and Cormac. Christina had passed out during the flip and I still held her in my arms as gently as possible, I lowered the both of us to the floor and I cradled her head in my lap. Bruce had lost consciousness during the flip, too, and Rafe was helping his lifeless body to the floor. I glanced around the room trying to get my bearings.

I thought we were in the Guilty Pleasures of our world, but I wasn’t completely sure. There was an L-shaped couch that dominated two of the walls of the room. On another were a large screen television and shelves filled with videocassettes. I also recognized a door leading to a bathroom. The door that I assumed was the one out of the high-class cell held a large pane of what was probably bulletproof two-way glass. I wondered who was on the other side.

Christina needed more blood, so I carefully laid her head on the floor and went to the door. After finding that it was locked, I banged on it hard and called out, “Micky, are you out there? I need blood.” Almost instantaneously it opened, revealing Zane. “Zane,” I said breathlessly. “We need blood. Christina’s been shot.”

“How’d that happen?” he asked as he raised a communicator and called for the substance. “Yeah, they’re back.”

I returned to Christina and took her head in my lap as Nina appeared with my sire’s box in hand again and headed directly toward us.

“Isn’t it getting rather low?” Cormac asked.

“Not really,” she replied, dropping to her knees.

I really didn’t want to deal with this asshole right now. I glanced up at him and said coolly, “In actuality, it’s her sire’s. I don’t think he’s going to mind.”

“It is her adopted sire,” he countered. Who the fuck cared if Antonio was her adopted sire or not? Did it make her claim to using his blood any less urgent than if it were me or Cormac for that matter? Not for the first time I found myself wondering who this guy thought he was, but right now Christina was more important, so I let the comment drop.

“Get Frasier,” I said to Zane. Maybe what she needed was fresh vitae, besides I knew he would want to be here.

“I think they’re on their way.”

“What’s the matter?” I heard Jason from the hallway just before he and Frasier filled the doorway into the room. Jason hesitated for a second, but Frasier came straight to Christina’s side and kneeled there.

“Brenda shot her,” Cormac informed Jason. Realization filled his eyes and Jason came to Christina as well. He tried to push past Frasier and the other man hesitated for a moment before allowing Jason to get closer. Frasier didn’t go far, however.

Jason examined her before looking to me. “How bad is she?” he asked.

“Bad enough,” I replied as I gently passed her torso over to him. He cradled her and I knew that somehow, someway everything was going to be okay. It had to.

One thing I knew for sure was that right now I had no business using, much less carrying a gun. I didn’t know how I was going to make this up to my sister, but I would spend the rest of eternity trying. I stood and Rafe was there instantly. He moved to take me into his arms, but I stopped him with my hand before lifting my jacket from my sides to reveal the pair of Glocks that hung in their holsters. “Take them,” I told him.

“Brenda, don’t be stupid. You know you’re going to need them. The Sabbat are here.”

“Just take them.” From over my shoulder I heard Jason sobbing against my sister’s head and that strengthened my resolve. Rafe’s eye closed briefly before he reached in and took the guns from their holsters and put them in the big pockets of his trench coat. I turned and continued, “There’s one in the back, too.” I felt him remove the PPK from my waistband and a weight lifted from my shoulders.

Brother Stephen entered then and he and Cormac went to a corner of the room for a private conference. Nina was helping Christina take more blood from the box and I noticed that Bruce was starting to stir. There were a thousand things I should be doing. Find Elvira. Arrange to get Christina back to the Chantry. Nothing seemed important though. I was numb to the core. Rafe tried to pull me into his arms again and this time I let him.

When Bruce was fully awake, he sat up, rubbing his head. “What is the saying? ‘Did anyone get the number of that truck?’” He was trying to be funny, but no one felt like laughing right now, especially me.

Christina’s face contorted in pain and she started to come around. Jason’s sobs ceased and he quickly wiped most of the blood tears from his face. I watched her blue eyes open and opened my mind to the physical pain she felt. When she saw Jason, she smiled slightly. “Jason. I had the strangest dream. You were missing and I couldn’t find you.” Her voice was thick, and her eyes hadn’t focused yet. “You wouldn’t let me find you,” she continued, her brow furrowed slightly. “Luke helped me look for you.” She stopped and really looked at him for the first time.

“Don’t worry now,” he soothed. “The dream is over.” She tried to sit up but winced at the effort. Jason eased her down again and she asked, “It wasn’t a dream was it?” She touched her side and winced again while at the same time brought her other hand up to touch Jason’s cheek. “Where are we?”

“In a church,” he returned with a slight grin.

“Church? Where?”

“In Salem.” He jostled Christina accidentally and she winced. He soothed her quietly and said, “I thought I was going to lose you. I love you.”

Nina stood and, leaving the box next to Christina, went to a corner of the room where she produced a letter and read it.

“Something seems different,” Christina said looking around. “Where’s Brenda?” I was just about to walk away until she spoke.

“She’s right here,” Jason told her.

“I’m here, Chris,” I told her quietly.

“Did we make it back to the right place?”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

“You’re sure?” She looked to Jason and back to me. “You’re sure?” she asked again.

“Jason and Frasier ran here fast enough,” I said, and Christina turned her head to see Frasier for the first time, and he edged closer.

“Haven’t I taught you anything yet?” he asked as he wiped her face. “You’re supposed to dodge.”

“I can’t dodge when my sister is shooting me,” she smiled weakly and tears formed in my eyes again. I felt Rafe’s arms tighten around me as Jason pulled something from his pocket. I recognized the ring that Jason had given her when they pretended to be married on that fateful trip to Russia. When she left the Holding, Christina had left the ring with a letter, telling Jason where she would be.

Nina was helping Bruce to his feet after she returned the letter to her pocket. Then the pair stood by in case Christina needed anything else. Cormac and Stephen were still talking quietly. It appeared as if there was a revelation of some kind going on.

“I don’t know if this is annoying or if I’m getting used to it,” Bruce said as he straightened his coat. When he looked at me, he saw the blood tears on my cheeks and concern filled his features. “What’s going on?”

Nina informed him of what happened while he was out, and he nodded his head gravely. “Accidents happen,” he told me in consolation, not that it made me feel any better.

Cormac and Stephen were done with their talk and Cormac hurriedly crossed the room to where garment bags had been hung along the wall. It looked like maybe they each had names on them, and he located one and pulled out a tuxedo that he quickly started changing in to. He didn’t actually don the outfit properly, just threw it on enough to be covered. There were still traces of blood on his skin and the bow tie hung around his neck instead of being tied. He wore a trench coat over it all.

After she put the ring on her finger Christina looked at Jason peculiarly. “What’s different? Something is different here.”

She was right. Jason had been changed by a Nosferatu, vampires who took on sometimes incredibly ghastly features like total hair loss, scales and slimy skin. There hadn’t really been time when Jason had arrived to notice anything different, but now that Christina mentioned it, there was something more human about him now.

“You’re covered in blood,” he quipped, attempting humor.

But she shook her head. “No. About you.”

“I got a haircut,” he grinned.

She laughed feebly and winced at the effort. “What’s different?” He took her hand and held it to his face. She stiffened and her eyes found me again. “Ah, Brenda. I don’t think we hit the right place.”

“You hit the right place,” he confirmed.

“Christina, everything is fine. You’re back now.” Frasier told her.

She wasn’t convinced. “I don’t think we’re in Kansas yet.”

“No. You’re in Salem,” Jason assured her. “Last time I saw you, we were in Ramadon and I was pretty funky looking. Now we’re here.”

“Where you’re not,” she commented, half-questioningly.

Jason shrugged. “A last gift from God.”

Christina obviously didn’t understand what he was talking about. “God doesn’t exist. If he did, why would he help us? Aren’t we beyond the pale? Damned for all eternity?”

“If God didn’t exist, then Caine wouldn’t. And therefore, we wouldn’t exist,” Bruce pointed out.

“Back handed logic,” Christina responded.

“In a roundabout way, yes,” Stephen joined the conversation. “If God did not exist, then why am I here? I have found my uncle after years of searching.”

Christina seemed determined to argue, regardless of her injuries, “Coincidence.”

“And I wouldn’t be able to be here with you, like this,” Jason told her in a low voice. Christina started to cry then, and Jason hugged her to him carefully. After a moment and with help, she sat up stiffly. She looked a little bit better, but I could tell she was still in a great deal of pain.

Zane popped his head in to let us know arrangements had been made to take Christina back to the Chantry. He also said formal attire had been brought over for all of us. We should change and meet Elvira on the main floor.

Rafe and I went to the bathroom and quickly changed. “Here let me,” he said coming up behind me. My emotions were still dazed and Rafe had to zip up the gray wool gown for me because my hands were shaking.

“Thank you,” I whispered. I was trying to pull myself together. There was still so much to do. I was sure the Sabbat had been using their time wisely while we were gone, and we had to be brought up to speed.

“She’s going to be okay; you know.” Rafe’s hands had moved up to my bare shoulders where he gave them a slight squeeze.

Fresh tears started in my eyes, but I didn’t let them fall. “She has to be,” I replied in a quiet voice. I glanced over my shoulder and gave him a small smile. “You look quite dashing.” And he did. The tuxedo looked as if it had been tailored especially for him.

“Oh, this old thing,” he joked, trying to lighten my mood. “I’ve had it forever.” He turned toward the door and offered me his arm. “Come on. Elvira is probably waiting.”


	15. Seeing Michael Again

_Somewhere there’s somebody who looks just like you do_   
_acts just like you too – feels the same way_   
_ Edie Brickell & New Bohemians - The Wheel_

The others had already changed and gone upstairs, so Rafe and I headed that way ourselves. The hall was lined with cells that we found empty until we had almost reached the stairwell. There was a man sitting on the low cot that looked up at our approached.

It was George Allen. Apparently, the former ghoul had been picked up while we were gone. I hoped I would get a chance to talk to him later, but I didn’t have time now.

“Brenda,” he said, getting to his feet. He seemed much surer of himself now. The clumsy drunk that I had first seen in David’s bar was gone and in his place was a man in, of all things, an Armani suit.

“George. Good, they found you-” I stopped for a moment in front of the cell and Rafe stopped beside me, placing a hand on my waist.

“Brenda,” he repeated.

“Look, I can’t talk right now. I have to find Elvira.”

“I’m not George, Brenda. I’m Michael.”

I dropped the hands full of fabric I had gathered from my dress and just looked at him. I’d had my suspicions all along that Michael was somehow trapped in George’s body, but to have it verified and know that he was in front of me right now was something totally different. My mind raced with unanswered questions. What had happened to him? Why is he in someone else’s body? Why didn’t he call me if he was in trouble?

“What are you talking about?” My tone was cool.

“Well it’s good to see you under better circumstances.” It was Michael’s smile all right, but it was on someone else’s mouth. His eyes were on Rafe as he straightened a cuff link, but he didn’t say anything. It was very unsettling.

“I’m glad you’re not in a bar, acting weird again.” I didn’t know what else to say. Rafe’s hand moved to curve around my waist in a possessive nature.

“Well I’m still weird, but at least the suit fits,” the man said with a twitch of his head that I’d seen Michael do thousands of times. Good old Michael. He could deal with anything as long as his suit was well tailored.

I glanced to the control panel on wall and entered the code that opened the door. I didn’t think it would be fair to go any further with bars between us. Rafe was still at my side and moved as if he meant to go in as well.

“I’ll be right back, just stay here,” I said as I kissed his cheek. I didn’t give him a chance to respond; instead I entered and shut the door behind me. I was only a few feet into the small room and Michael immediately came forward. He tried to pull me to him, but I stopped him with my hand on his chest. “Michael?” I wasn’t sure what to say to him.

“It’s me,” he whispered. “I may not look the same, but it’s me.”

I believed that it was indeed Michael Moorecock, but I studied him like I still wasn’t convinced. Before I could stop myself, I slapped him hard across the face.

“What the hell was that for?” he raged with a hand to his cheek. He was just as shocked as I was. “Did you pump for that?”

I turned around a walked away from him. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m trying to get my body back.” He still had a hand on his cheek. “And trying to see you.”

“Oh, really,” I retorted. “And what would spark that need after two years?”

His tone held as much emotion as mine had. “As if you have to ask.”

“Well, I must say I don’t know what’s going on with you. Maybe it’s because I haven’t _seen_ you in a while.”

“Brenda,” Michael said, taking a step toward my again. “You know I love you.”

There was no way in hell I was going to let him talk his way out of how he had treated me. “Yeah, okay whatever.”

“What did you expect me to do, stand around and watch your humanity fade as I’ve watched mine?” Michael fumed. “I wanted us both to be human, Brenda. I wanted us to have a normal life. It hurt me too much to watch you turn from the girl I loved into a monster that lived only for blood.”

“It wasn’t fair of you to expect me to wait for you forever,” I replied evenly. “When you left you gave me the impression that you didn’t care anymore, and now you’ve changed your mind and I’m supposed to just jump on your lap like a grateful puppy? Well I’m sorry, it’s just not going to happen. Not now.”

“It’s not like I could have come to you in the past year. I tried. God knows I tried.” Michael had his arms spread out at his sides to prove his point. It was so out of the ordinary to see gestures that belonged to him on another body.

“Oh, but you were able to break yourself away just enough to send roses every few months.”

“I haven’t sent anything to you in the past year, Brenda,” he countered.

“Well, I have cards that say different.” Just how long had this been going on?

“That’s the other guy who has my body.”

“So how did all that come about?” By now all thoughts of meeting Elvira upstairs had been put on the back burner.

Michael began to pace the cell. “It was a nightmare. I was minding my own business down in Mexico. All of a sudden, all these Sabbat… listen, it’s a long story. The point is that I’m here now, Brenda.” He had stopped in front of me and held out a hand in my direction. Part of me wanted to take it and let him pull me into his arms, to once again feel his strong embrace that I knew would protect me forever.

Reason won out, however. I blinked, remembering that Rafe was standing outside the cell, waiting for me so we could join the Prince. “Oh, and that’s just supposed to make everything okay?” I asked harshly.

“Yes, it is,” he insisted. “We love each other. Isn’t love supposed to make everything all right?” In his own way, Michael was pleading. I realized that whatever he had been put through was probably bad and that he needed me just as much as I wanted to need him, but things had changed. I couldn’t let him turn my life upside down again.

“Michael, I’m sorry, I just don’t believe you. It’s been two years. Over two years, Michael. How much adjustment did you think I needed? When you left me, you took my heart with you and it’s taken this long for me to get it back.” I looked over my shoulder at Rafe and he gave me a supportive look in return.

My cell phone rang then, and I half turned myself from Michael to answer it. “Hello?”

“Brenda,” a desperate sounding female voice sounded over the line. It sounded like Rafe’s sister, Samantha.

“Sam?”

“Brenda, you have to help us.” Things were crashing around her and I could hear harsh voices yelling.

“What’s going on?” I asked, trying to assess the situation.

“You have to help us,” she repeated. “We’re at Mother –“ The phone went dead.

Something was going down at Mother Abigail’s. It was a house for troubled teens that I knew Samantha and Rachel taught a class in Wicca at on Friday evenings. We had to get there and fast. I went to the door without another word to Michael and walked out of the room, making sure to lock it behind me.

“What are you doing?” I heard Michael ask.

Rafe could see that something was wrong. He took my hand and eyed me wearily. “People that I care about need help,” I said looking into Rafe’s eyes. “I have to go.”

“We need to finish this conversation,” Michael ground out.

I looked into the cell once again and met his gaze. “We’ll finish it on my terms this time.”

Rafe slipped his arm around my shoulders with a concerned look on his face. “Is there something wrong?” he asked.

“Something is happening at Mother Abigail’s,” I informed him as we went back down the hall to the room where we had changed. I wanted to get my clothes since I had a feeling that a formal gown wasn’t going to fit in the fight I felt was coming.

“Do you want your guns back?” Rafe asked as he shrugged off the formal jacket and grabbed the leather one I had worn earlier.

“No.”


	16. Rallying the Troops

_Baby it’s all or nothing now_   
_I don’t want to run_   
_And I can’t walk out._   
_ Cher - All or Nothing_

When we got up to the main floor of Guilty Pleasures Elvira was addressing the vampires assembled there. It looked as if all of my kind in the city and our supernatural allies were here, and they were all dress in formal attire.

“Wait a minute,” Elvira was saying. Her hands were raised over her head in an effort to quiet the crowd. “I know that there’s been a lot of shit happening. I want everyone to listen to me. I understand that a lot of people have been hurt and that probably a lot more people will be hurt, but I want Roger Campbell, Akari and whoever is in Michael Moorecock’s body brought to me alive. I don’t care if you kill everyone else, in fact I prefer it, but I want those three alive. Bring me their ghouls in chains.” As an afterthought she added, “Oh, and bring me the teeth of that Brujah.”

I found out from a passing clan member that it was the Sabbat pack that was at Mother Abigail’s. Elvira had received a taunting phone call from Akari just before Rafe and I came upstairs, and she was rallying every Kindred and ghoul that had been at Guilty Pleasures to go there.

Everyone left quickly. On the way out I saw Cormac with the Eliza, Stephen and three other werewolves from town pile into Micky’s car. Rafe and I got into one of the vans that had been brought around for transport and I changed back into my jeans on the way there.

When I was done Rafe faced me on the seat we shared and looked at me hard. “We’re almost there,” he said. I could tell he was worried about his sister and I mirrored his concerns. Samantha had to be all right. I didn’t know what we would do if she didn’t survive this night. “You have to take this and promise me you’ll use it.”

I looked down just as rays of streetlight moved through the interior of the van. In his hand Rafe was holding one of the Glocks I had made him take when we flipped back. Part of me wanted to take it from him, but another part remembered what I had done less than an hour ago.

“Rafe,” I began as the debate continued in my head, “I-I can’t. What if-”

“No what ifs, Bren. This is the Sabbat we’re talking about and they have Sam. We have to be ready for anything.” His eyes implored me to take the gun.

“What if I hurt someone else?” I asked. “What if I shoot you?”

“It was an accident,” he pressed. We had kept our voices down, but the other riders in the van were beginning to look back at us. “You know what you have to do.”

I looked at the weapon again and knew he was right. After a slight hesitation I took the gun from Rafe’s hand, vowing that as soon as this mess was over, I would hand it back to him again.

**~*~*~*~*~**

The convoy of mismatched vehicles stopped just down the street from our destination and I was glad to see that it looked like everyone made it. Gavin, the Nosferatu leader, seemed to be in charge. He stood on the turned down tailgate of a truck as he told people which way to go into the large house and to wait for the signal before entering. There was a box of stakes on the tailgate next to him for everyone to grab from.

Rafe and I were directed to enter through what we found out to be the living room of the house. As we approached the structure, I saw someone crouching in the shrubbery. To my surprise it was Birkoff and I quickly went to him.

When I got to his side, I realized he was crouching there because he was throwing up. I grabbed him by the upper arm and pulled him to his feet, making him look at me. “I can’t believe he’s doing this,” he was mumbling stupidly. “He’s never been like this before.”

“Birkoff,” I said looking into his eyes, prepared to Dominate him if I had to. “What’s going on in there?”

“You have to see it to believe it.” He was completely dazed and of no use to us at this point.

“Are you all right?” I asked him.

“I’m going to be sick,” he said dropping to his knees. Apparently, there was nothing left in his stomach, but he continued to retch anyway.

“Stay here,” I told him. “Don’t go anywhere.” He nodded as he wiped the back of his hand across his mouth.

I looked into the large picture window and saw Michael holding a girl down on a couch by her upper arms. Most of her clothes had been ripped away and I could see bruises forming on her face and torso. He was poised to feed on her neck and the girl was screaming. Vivian stood nearby with blood on her lips and a satisfied look on her face. Another girl was on the floor with another member of the pack feeding her blood from an open wound in his arm. She tried to struggle but looked very battered and weak and wasn’t doing a very good job of avoiding it.

In one corner of the room was a woman I recognized from around town with a young girl holding baby hiding behind her. The woman appeared to be fending off another pack member with her eyes that looked like she was struggling to get reach her.

I broke out the window with the hilt of the Glock. There was no reaction from the others in the room, they were too busy with what they were doing. I climbed up onto the window ledge and entered.

Before I realized he was even there one of the pack members grabbed me from behind and wrapped his left arm around my neck. I used level-two Thaumaturgy to make him use his own blood in an attempt to throw him off kilter so I could escape his grasp. I lowered my fangs and prepared to attack if I had to.

The man in Michael’s body had noticed me and was regarding me with exasperation. “Do you really think the elders will spare you because you’ve been their pawn all these years?” he asked. “You’ll be among the first to fall. Join me, Brenda, before it’s too late. We can still be together.”

From another room I saw Cormac aim his gun and fire just as Stephen morphed into Crinos form so that he was half-way between human and wolf and terrifying to behold. Stephen then entered the room and stepped up behind Michael, who didn’t notice the seven-foot werewolf.

The guy who had me from behind pointed a gun to my head. I was afraid Rafe would enter and try to do something that got him hurt, so I turned my head and bit into his face to tear a chunk off it away. I wasn’t able to escape him, but I had hurt him pretty bad.

“The embrace has changed you my love,” Michael said from across the room. “If I could I would kill Antonio for it.” There was hate in his eyes that I had never seen before.

Stephen edged up behind Michael as he pointed his gun at me. Before anyone knew what was happening Stephen pushed Michael’s head into the stone fireplace, stunning him, then moved on toward other people in the room.

With everyone’s attention diverted I threw the guy half ass over my hip and he landed on a coffee table that in turn broke underneath him. As I straightened, I lowered my gun in his direction. The girl that Michael had pinned on the couch was hysterical now. She had no doubt seen my fangs, along with Michael’s, and all the other vampires in the room.

I aimed the gun at the pack member’s head and pulled the trigger. It exploded, spattering blood everywhere especially on my clothing, which was already covered in Christina’s blood. Because of the close proximity, the phosphorus didn’t have time to set fire to anything.

I turned from the guy’s remains to see that Michael was pushing himself off the fireplace. He was shaking his head as if he had been dazed, but he still held the gun in his hand. From the corner of my eye I saw Vivian raise her own weapon at me and shoot.

I dodged away from the body of the pack member I killed, and the round ricocheted off a wall. By now every mortal in the room was screaming their fool head off. That tends to happen when a Crinos werewolf is in the area. It has something to do with the fact of having everything you thought was fantasy thrown in your face as real. Some people never fully recover from such a sight, no matter how much they’re Dominated.

Cormac had entered the room and pulled a revolver as he assessed the situation. From my position on the floor, I turned to Michael and saw that he was coming up with a gun. It was pointed at me and I in turn aimed my Glock at him. Because of my familiarity with Michael it scared the shit out of me to stare down the barrel of his gun, even though I knew it wasn’t the real Michael.

Without warning the lighting in the room dimmed, like the lights had been turned off, but the room still had enough light in it to see. Vivian was lying on her side on the floor, pointing her gun at me. I heard a shot being fired and the round hit a potted plant near her, and it exploded into flames.

I figured the shooter was Cormac. “I want her alive,” I said as I pulled the trigger. The round hit the outside of Michael’s thigh, but it didn’t ignite. As he fell on top of Vivian I quickly scrambled to my feet.

As I did so, I saw that Rafe was still in the window, looking into the room. He had a gun pulled and aimed. By the expression on his face I figured he had been waiting for a clear shot that so far had been denied him.

When I returned my gaze into the room, I saw that Michael was attempting to get to his feet. The wound to his thigh wasn’t that bad, but it would slow him down enough to incapacitate him. He no longer had his gun and that was an added advantage as well. With a glance I saw that Vivian still had hers in her hand, but she wasn’t ready to fire at anyone yet.

I pulled a stake from the back of my waistband and approached Michael, keeping my gun aimed at the other woman. “Drop the weapon,” I told Vivian coldly.

“When you’re dead, bitch, he’ll be mine,” she hissed as she once again brought her gun to me.

“If it were him then I’d worry about it.” She didn’t get a chance to answer because she took a shot to her wrist, causing the phosphorous rounds in her own weapon to ignite. Her entire hand was on fire now and she was screaming in agony. Some of the phosphorous had slashed onto Michael’s face and arm and it bubbled a little as he stared at Vivian in shock.

I went to him and used my blood to become stronger. I had never staked another vampire before, but I knew it would be hard. I passed Cormac on the way. He had moved to the girl on couch and was trying to calm her down. He ended up Dominating her into sleeping and laid her comfortably back.

Michael was still staring and Vivian in shock from where he sat on the floor next to her. I hit him in the side of the head in an attempt to knock him out and he slumped to the floor. I dropped to one knee and just as I raised the stake to plunge it into Michael’s chest, water appeared from out of nowhere over Vivian’s head and distracted me. The water fell on her and extinguished the flames.

I saw Bruce enter the room from the corner of my eye. He was shirtless and seemed to notice the women in the corner. One was screaming inconsolably as she stared wide-eyed at Stephen and the other woman was trying to calm her down. When her efforts didn’t get her anywhere, she slapped the younger woman.

Bruce immediately understood the situation and went to the young Lupine. After a few low exchanges the priest switched back to mortal form and the room quieted. The young man was quite naked after his transformation and a blanket was taken from the back of the couch to wrap around him toga style.

I turned back to Michael and tried to plunge the stake into his chest but failed miserably. The tip barely went into his skin and stopped like I didn’t have enough strength. A cunning smile spread on his face as I stared at him in disbelief. I couldn’t even do that right.

The lights returned to normal as Cormac came up and pulled a stake from behind his back. With apparent ease he plunged it into Michael’s chest then walked away. I stared at his lifeless body for a moment the rose as Rafe came up beside me.

“You okay?” he asked, and I nodded mutely.

Vivian was dead. Even though it had been put out, the phosphorus fire had killed her. Not the end I was hoping for, but it would have to do.

**~*~*~*~*~**

Everything seemed to be under control in the rest of the house. With Michael incapacitated my thoughts turned to Samantha. Where was she?

“What’s going on?” Elvira asked from the doorway where Rafe and I were heading toward. I turned and saw Nina and Eliza were standing close to the Prince. Micky was there, too.

“Have you seen Samantha?” I asked.

“No, but I haven’t been everywhere either,” the Prince said as she assessed the room.

“Has anyone been upstairs?” Rafe asked respectfully, but with a touch of edginess in his tone.

Elvira shook her head. “No. There are people up there, though.”

Without another word, Rafe and I left the living room and headed for the stairs. There were definitely signs of carnage on the second floor, but no Samantha. We met Cormac, Bruce and Stephen on the way back down.

“They took some of the girls outside,” Rachel informed us when she caught up. I was happy to see that she was okay, but Samantha was still weighing heavy on my mind.

Bruce and Rachel accompanied Rafe and I out back to the shed, but we found its door locked. I was just about to break the thing down when it opened and revealed a frightened woman. Inside there were three others and they all appeared to have been beaten severely. One had been visibly bitten and the wound was still bleeding. Samantha wasn’t among them.

A quick look at the dirt floor alerted me to the fact that the ground had been disturbed recently, but for what purpose?

“Where in the fuck is Samantha?” I asked no one in particular. My patience was running out. If we didn’t find her soon, I was sure I would blow.

One of the older women spoke up. “The guys that broke into the house killed several of the girls and buried them.” She was pointing at the ground.

Horrified, Rafe and I dropped the ground as one and started pushing handfuls of dirt aside. After the first few handfuls, the dirt started moving out of the way by itself and the other women in the shed quickly left. Six girls in total had been buried in the shallow grave, and Samantha was one of them. As Rafe carefully pulled her lifeless body from the ground, I saw puncture marks on her neck and my heart fell. We were too late. Samantha was either dead or a vampire. I wasn’t sure how Rafe would react if she had been embraced against her will.

Bruce came over and checked the other girl’s pulses. When he was finished, he turned to me and shook his head sadly. They all appeared to be dead, but we knew that a popular ploy of many Sabbat packs was to turn multiple humans into vampires and let them loose, hungry and ignorant to their new status, on the general populace. Unfortunately, only time would tell for them.

Samantha hadn’t moved and Rafe began to slap her hard on the face, which brought out a little twitch. “Come on,” he pressed. “Enough of this game, Samantha. It’s time to wake up.” She moved again slightly but didn’t open her eyes. She couldn’t dead, so I checked her aura. She was human and alive with myriad sparkles that signified she was using magick. Was our girl a Mage and we didn’t know it?

“Samantha, come on,” I now urged as well. “You’re safe now and everything is over. Wake up.” She roused further and eventually opened her eyes.

Zane appeared in the doorway a moment later with blood bags for any of the victims who had been turn. “Why are they feeding them blood?” Rachel asked.

“Because the people that hurt them made them what they are,” Bruce explained.

“Great,” she replied with a touch of sadness. “Shouldn’t we be staking them?” I was appalled by her display of knowledge about what to do to destroy one of my kind. Apparently, Bruce had been divulging information to her that he shouldn’t have. I would have to deal with it later. Rachel could always be Dominated into forgetting what she knew.

“Like everything in life there is good and evil. Just because some of them have been turned doesn’t mean they are evil. Just different,” Bruce explained, reminding me once again how glad I was for his tolerance in situations like these. Rachel merely nodded in agreement.

Before he left again, Zane let Bruce and I know that Elvira wanted to meet with everyone in the family room of the house. I told Rafe to stay with Samantha, that I would be back, and he nodded in agreement.

We found that everyone who was still at Mother Abigail’s had already gathered inside. Cormac and Eliza were there, off to one side, as well as Micky and Sarah. Michael’s body was still on the floor in front of the fireplace and Akari and Roger had been brought in too.

Akari was missing both his legs and had wound on his elbow. Whoever had taken him down had done it without much leniency. Roger had a rather nasty gunshot wound in his gut. All three bodies were staked.

Michael was there too, in George Allen’s borrowed body. I was happy to see Ford standing at Elvira’s side once again. I also saw Malachi, Alden and Zora among the crowd.

Elvira had Roger brought forward so that he lay on the floor in front of her. Then she turned to Bruce and said, “You have the right to decide his fate. You can kill him, or we can keep him and question him. It’s up to you.”

I could tell that Bruce was shocked by the Prince’s decree. It wasn’t in his nature to kill anything unless someone was in danger. It was true that Roger had tried to blackmail Bruce into joining the pack by threatening Rachel’s life, in fact I would find out later that Roger had in fact attacked her at Mother Abigail’s, but revenge wasn’t in Bruce’s vocabulary. Call it his eleventh century chivalry kicking in. He considered for a moment before responding in a low voice, “It is not for me to judge, My Queen.”

“Very well,” Elvira replied. “We’ll hold him for questioning then.” With a slight nod to waiting house ghouls the motionless body was taken away. “Who has the teeth?” she asked then.

Nina worked her way through the crowd and offered the canines to the Prince. Elvira took them and asked, “Who killed Noah?” Noah was the Brujah that Elvira had earlier called for the teeth of. I wasn’t sure why, but if I had to guess, I’d assume he was working with the Sabbat pack in some way. Maybe feeding them information?

“Bruce initially,” Nina replied. “I pulled them out after.”

Elvira handed the teeth to Malachi and said harshly, “You need to take better care of your people or there won’t be any of them in my city.” He nodded cockily as he took them and turned to leave the room.

Then she called for Michael to be brought forth and looked to me. “I know how important it is to deal personally with someone who has hurt someone you love. It’s your right to decide this man’s fate, Brenda. I give you three choices. You can kill him yourself; you can let Michael kill him, or he can join the Lasombra for questioning. No one will interfere with your judgment, but either way I’m afraid Michael will be trapped in George’s body.” Silence fell over the room.

“How come you can’t switch them back?” Bruce asked.

“Do you know how?” she retorted.

This couldn’t happen. No matter how my relationship with Michael had ended, I stilled owed him the courtesy of fixing what Akari had taken from him. “No one knows the ritual?” I asked. There had to be someone out there who knew how to change them back and I didn’t care if I spent the rest of my life looking for the answers. “Akari is still alive, can’t you ask him?”

“I suppose we could.” Elvira looked doubtfully at the body of her unscrupulous childe. “Are you suggesting that we unstake the-”

“I’m suggesting that we try to find out.” The thought of leaving Michael in his present state this was more than I was willing to let happen.

“There may be a ritual,” Cormac spoke up from the corner. “It will take some study.” I was touched by Cormac’s offer. After all the snide comments we had shared over the last day or two, I was surprised that he would even be interested in rectifying something that seemed so important to me.

“Akari was the Tremere of their pack,” I reasoned. “It was most likely he who performed the ritual. Can’t we try?”

Micky moved forward and knelt beside the body. With Elvira’s approval he pulled the stake from Akari’s body and forced a few pints of blood down his throat to revive him. When Akari started to come around, I went to him and put my foot on his throat.

“What did you do to switch the bodies,” I ground out. My foot wasn’t applying enough pressure to stop him from speaking, but the intent was there.

It was several seconds before he responded. “It’s a ritual,” he replied, hoarsely as he looked around the room.

“How’s it done?”

Akari was beginning to understand that the knowledge of the ritual was the only trump card he had left. “Very carefully,” he said with a slight smile. He wasn’t a threat in anyway. Micky had given him only enough blood to speak and Akari couldn’t stand much less move around.

I applied pressure. “I want the details.”

“What, do you want me to do it for you?”

“I want the details,” I repeated.

He sighed, the light going out of his eyes again. Akari knew he was beat and probably figured the only way to make his final death any less painful was to come clean. “Something like this…” he began and started to chant in Latin.

I looked to Elvira to see if she wanted him stopped. She was only watching the events, so I let him continue. Micky was still crouched next to Akari, ready to stake him again if need be.

Michael’s body began to twitch on the ground while Michael in George’s body was still standing by a wall. As the chanting continued, Michael started to sway and eventually lost consciousness and slid down the wall to lay in a heap. Akari stopped chanting and fell silent. I removed my foot.

“Brenda?” Bruce asked from behind me.

“What?” I glanced at him over my shoulder.

“Just checking,” he replied with a quick smile that I returned.

I bent over Michael’s body and after glancing to Elvira for permission, removed the stake.

He inhaled deeply as he blinked and looked around. “Jesus. What was that? Did you stake me?” His memories seemed foggy and my foot immediately went to his throat in case Akari had tried something stupid. Michael smiled devilishly as he looked up at me, “Well, if I’d known you wanted to get physical, we could have gone someplace private.” He started to bring his hand up to cup my calf and I quickly removed my foot, holding a hand out to him instead. He took it and I helped him to his feet.

“What the hell did he do to my body?” Michael asked in disgust as he straitened the lapels of the jacket and mumbling, “This isn’t even an Armani.” It didn’t really matter. The suit was trashed, and I knew Michael would be back in proper attire as quickly as possible.

I didn’t want to admit it, but I was glad to see him back where he belonged. I almost reached out to brush away an imaginary piece of lint but stopped myself and backed up a few steps to put some distance between us.

Michael was looking at me in that way he had that always sent my stomach fluttering. Blood bags were produced, and Michael drank, but not enough to fill up, his eyes never leaving me. Once I was sure he was okay I retreated to stand next to Bruce while Michael faced Elvira. She told him that he would be escorted back to the Chantry where he would stay until it could be determined just how much involvement he did or didn’t have with the pack.

“I understand,” he replied respectfully. As he was led from the room his eyes fell on me again. _I hope to see you soon,_ he thought to me, but I didn’t respond.

Elvira turned her attention once again to Akari and motioned for Micky to help him to a sitting position. The two studied each other in a way that said they were speaking telepathically.

“I embraced you against the will of my sire,” she finally said aloud. “I would have done anything you asked me to. You had only to ask and I would have left Charleston with you. Your mistake was in trying to kill my sire. Now you leave me no choice but to execute quick Camarilla justice on you.”

Akari’s eyes closed as he accepted his fate and Elvira looked around as if she were looking for something in particular. Cormac seemed to understand and pulled a long knife from his boot and handed it to her.

She took it with a sad smile and before using it, leaned down and kissed Akari’s cheek. Without another word she neatly removed Akari’s head and Ford looked on approvingly. After she handed the knife back to Cormac, Elvira turned to her sire asked if he would return to the Chantry for a nightcap. He nodded his head in agreement and we were all dismissed.

I left the house in search of Rafe and Samantha and found them still in the shed.


	17. Paying the Piper

_I wish you’d say what was on your mind_  
_It may be cruel but I don’t mind_  
_ The Mavericks - All I Get_

Rachel and Samantha were ready to go home. They have been Dominated so they wouldn’t remember any vampire involvement in the evening, and it seemed to have worked. Bruce was taking Rachel home himself, so Rafe and I borrowed a car and left to take Samantha to her house next door to Rachel’s. It wasn’t far and, on the way, Samantha detailed her new memories as I drove. The girls had been told Mother Abigail’s had been the subject of a home invasion and the young women who had been changed were killed. Samantha had escaped death herself by pretending to be dead.

“You scared me to death,” Rafe said again as he regarded his sister who was sitting in the back seat. “You used to pull that shit when we were kids. I can’t believe you did it again, but I’m glad you did.” I found Rafe’s comment odd, but tucked it away to ask him about it later.

Jorell was waiting at the door when we got to Samantha’s house and I picked him up so I could take a look around. Everything seemed okay and Rafe asked if it was all right if he stayed with Samantha for a while. He didn’t want her to be alone and I didn’t blame him. He walked me to the door as Samantha went to her room to change for bed. “I’ll be back before sunup,” he said lowly as he clasped my upper arms. “I just want to make sure she gets to sleep.”

“That’s fine. Do you want me to have a car sent back?”

“No. I think she’ll let me use hers.” He glanced toward the stairs then leaned down to kiss my cheek.

“I would stay with you, but I really need to check on Chris and talk to Elvira.” I reached up to brush back a piece of his hair. Rafe smiled and turned his head to kiss my palm.

“Okay. I’ll get back there as soon as I can.”

“Okay.” Remembering my silent vow, I pulled my Glock once again from its holster and handed it to Rafe.

“No,” Rafe said with a frown as his hold on my arms tightened. “You may need that. Christina is in no shape to defend herself at this point and if something else happens you’ll be needed to help.” I started to protest, but he pulled me closer to him. “I will not allow you to drive back to the Chantry alone without a means to defend yourself,” he said through tight teeth that left me blinking up at him in surprise.

“I’ll keep the PPK,” I replied just as heated when I collected myself and he relented, taking the smaller gun from his jacket pocket and switching them with me. Rafe quickly stuffed the Glock in the back of his waistband, then wrapped his hand around the back of my neck.

He appeared to be worried about something else but didn’t voice anything. I figured it was about Samantha, so I didn’t say anything either. She was safe now and she would stay that way if I could help it. I started to pull away to leave, but Rafe brought me back against his chest and locked his mouth over mine.

The kiss was intense and silently told me how much Rafe loved and cared about me. I returned the kiss with the same passion and felt his arms wrap around me. Rafe was just pulling his head back when we heard Samantha clearing her throat at the door of the study. We both looked at her. She had changed into a tank top and shorts and had pulled her hair back into a ponytail.

“I was just leaving,” I said my voice full of guilt.

She smiled and started toward us. “Okay. See you later, Brenda.”

“Bye,” I said with a final kiss on Rafe’s cheek.

“Be careful,” he told me as I walked out the front door.

**~*~*~*~*~**

I left and went back to the chantry. Most of the clan members were already back there as well. I found out that Gavin and the other primogen had assembled with Elvira and Ford in her study. I left word that if she needed me, I would be around for the rest of the evening. I headed upstairs with plans to check on Christina before going to my suite to shower. On the way I did what I could to build up my courage to face her.

I knocked on the door hesitantly and Jason answered. Christina was lying on the bed in men’s pajamas, not looking to well. She had been cleaned up, but still looked really pale, even for a vampire. I stepped just inside the door and proceeded to thoroughly inspect the carpet in guilt. She probably didn’t want to ever see me again.

“Brenda,” Christina said weakly. She held out her hand to me and I reluctantly approached the bed, my arms crossed defensively in front of me. I was ready for her to tell me she hated me.

“How are you feeling?” I asked quietly.

“Better,” she replied, her hand still held out to me. I reached behind me and pulled the PPK out went to place it in her hand.

“I don’t want your gun,” Christina said, pulling her hand back. “I want your hand.”

“I’m so sorry,” I said putting the gun on the bed beside her.

“Jason, can you give us a minute please?” she asked the love of her life and he moved forward to briefly place a light kiss to her cheek before leaving the room.

Christina studied me carefully, but I couldn’t meet her eyes. After a minute of silence, I lifted my eyes to hers and saw that she had a you’re-being-stupid-and-you-know-it expression on her face. “Brenda,” she said lowly and I looked away again. “You’re being stupid, and you know it.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Just because there was an accident, doesn’t mean you should give up your weapons.”

Well it sure as hell doesn’t mean I deserve an award, I wanted to yell. “I should have been there.”

“Been where?”

“Where you were. It should have been me.”

Her brow furrowed. “Well, it was impossible for the both of us to be there.”

“You shouldn’t have been there.” I felt the tears beginning to well in my eyes.

“But I was.” The way she said it didn’t place any blame, but I knew it was all mine. I’d been the one to place here there after all.

“I’m so sorry.”

“Brenda, it was an accident.” Christina’s tone was so even. I didn’t think I could sit here and listen to her act so calm. “It’s not like you did it on purpose. Did you?”

How could she even think that? “No, I was stupid, and it won’t happen again.”

“God, I hope not.” Christina chuckled a little. “I will never stand by the elevator like that again.”

“No,” I agreed. “Next time it will be me.”

“Next time nobody will be there. But the point is that accidents happen. That’s no reason for you to lay down your guns. Do you think other people don’t have them?”

I shook my head. “I don’t have accidents.” Why didn’t she understand how I felt? Wasn’t Christina the one who blamed herself for Jason’s embrace and wouldn’t let anyone talk her out of it?

“Well you did,” she said with another slight laugh.

“I don’t want any more.”

“Well then don’t send me to stand on the other side of the elevator again.” The laugh was still there.

“I just wanted to make sure that you were okay.” I had to get out of here before I totally broke down in front of her.

“Brenda, come here.”

“I really need to –” I choked.

“Brenda, come here and sit on the bed.”

“I’m not going to sit on the bed. I’m covered in blood and I need to go change.”

“Come here and sit down,” she said impatiently as she picked up the PPK I had laid down beside her. I sat.

“Would it make you feel better if I shot you?” Christina asked after I had settled myself. “It wouldn’t be an accident.”

That wasn’t a bad idea. “If it made you feel better,” I replied.

“It wouldn’t make me feel better because I don’t feel badly about this,” she said soothingly. “I know that accidents happen. We can’t be perfect all the time. I know that. If I were perfect, then Jason would never have been embraced.”

“Don’t blame that on yourself.” Why couldn’t she just get over it? Thoughts like that did nothing but mess with her emotions and anyway it didn’t matter now. They were together. All’s well that ends well.

“Why not?” she pressed. “Isn’t it my fault?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“You weren’t the one that drained him and feed him your vitae,” I tried to reason. “Someone else did. You weren’t the one that pulled the trigger –”

“I wasn’t there to pull the trigger.”

“You did what you could.”

“And so, did you.”

“Oh, yeah. I could miss. And I could shoot you.”

“I missed. And I didn’t get there in time to save Jason and he was embraced and for two years he couldn’t even look at me. Okay, couldn’t show me he looked at me.” She sounded disgusted as she reached out to take my hand and made me look at her. “If I had died, I could see you feeling this way, but I’m not dead. I’m here and I’m going to be okay, just give me a couple of days and then we’ll go to the shooting range and teach each other how to shoot better.

I smiled slightly, feeling a little better about the situation. “I pray that Antonio never learns of my stupidity,” I breathed.

“I think you had better find other things to pray about,” she replied dryly with a knowing look on her face that meant the cat was already out of the bag.

“Great.” I rose from the bed and walked to the wall.

“I guess that I should mention that Antonio is coming here.”

“What?”

“Not because of you,” she assured me. “He just thought it best to come visit us.” She seemed awfully proud of herself about something.

“Oh, wonderful,” I groaned mournfully. “I get to be chastised in person.” I straightened Christina’s things that had been arranged on one of the built-in shelves as I worried about what I was going to say to my sire.

“Actually, I think it was his intention to chastise you if you decided to put your guns away.”

“He can’t make me not put them down,” I replied stubbornly. I turned my back to her so she couldn’t see the obvious distress on my face.

“He can’t?” Christina prompted mockingly. “We are talking about Antonio. Our sire, who knows Dominate much better than you or me?”

“He can’t Dominate me.”

“Well, if he can’t there are others who can. Let’s see Elvira –“

“You leave them out of this,” I whirled back to face her. “Elvira doesn’t know yet and I don’t think she needs to.” God what would I say to Elvira? I would lose my place on her security detail. I hated to admit it, but my sister was starting to make sense.

“She doesn’t need to know if you don’t put your guns up,” Christina was saying.

“Look this isn’t the time to discuss this.” I needed time to think.

“It is the time to discuss this. If you fall off the horse you need to get right back on,” Christina pointed out. “I think you fell. It was a mistake and they happen. Get back on the horse Brenda.”

I needed an excuse to get out of there and quick. “I really have to take a shower,” I grasped.

“Take the gun back,” she countered. I walked to the bed and slowly retrieved the holster she had dropped on the coverlet and knew in the back of my mind that she was right. I just wasn’t going to let her know yet. I held out my hand and she considered me before saying, “You will wear it and not put it in a drawer?”

“Oh, yeah sure.”

She eyes me wearily. “Swear to me.”

“I will do what needs to be done.”

“That’s not what I asked.” Apparently, I didn’t look convincingly enough because she went on. “I guess I’ll just have to call down to the study. I believe Elvira is down there. Or Micky maybe? Maybe he’s the person I need to talk to.” I snatched the gun from her and put it in its holster and slipped them both in my pocket.

“You should be resting,” I threw over my shoulder as I went to the door.

“Swear to me, Brenda.”

“Okay,” I relented.

She wouldn’t be put off. “You have to say it.”

“Okay, I’ll wear it.”

“Loaded.”

“Fine.” My hand was on the knob and starting to turn it.

“Say it.”

“Loaded.”

“Thank you. Good night.” I wrenched open the door and as I walked out, she said, “Maybe you could knock on the other door and let Jason know you’re leaving.” I slammed the door and heard her say as she laughed, “That should do it.”


	18. Aftermath

_So I’ll come by and see you again_   
_I’ll be such a very good friend_   
_ Melissa Etheridge - Angels Would Fall_

I returned to my room, showered and then dressed in a black tank top and a pair of white jeans. A glance at the clock told me it was almost nine-thirty and I figured now was the best time to go visit Michael before Rafe returned from his sister’s. Before leaving the suite, I carefully removed the pictures of Anna and Brenna from the pocket of my ruined khakis and tucked them away in the pants I now wore.

I knew I had better clear the visit with Elvira first, so I when I got to the first floor of the Chantry I asked around and found out that she was in her sitting room. The rest of the primogen had already left and she was enjoying ‘cocktails’ there with Alden, Ford, Gavin and Angel. I quietly opened the door and stood just inside, waiting to be noticed.

Elvira noticed me right away. “Brenda, it is good to see you. Come in.” I smiled slightly as I went forward to kiss Elvira’s cheek. “It was a good evening,” she said proudly as she raised her glass and the others followed suit. “Many things were settled.”

“Yes,” I replied as I took a few steps back and gave Angel a quick smile that he returned.

“It is unfortunate about the girls, but they will be dealt with,” I said, Ford and Gavin nodding in agreement.

“What will happen?” I asked. It was hard to stomach that so many innocents had paid the price for the Sabbat invasion and now had to be counted among our number.

The Prince was thoughtful. “I’m not quite sure yet.”

“Do you know what they are?” I asked, meaning their clans.

“There’s quite a variety,” Alden replied as he adjusted in his chair.

“How many are we looking at?” I asked him.

“Seven.”

“Will they be allowed to stay in the city?”

“No,” he replied quickly then thought a second. “It’s possibly that the one might, she’s Brujah.”

“Have you had a chance to speak with Michael yet?” I was trying to segue into the topic I really wanted to discuss.

“Yes, I did, actually,” Elvira said before taking a sip from her glass then licked her lips.

“And how did that go?”

She smiled. “What do you mean? He was quite cooperative, although he is upset about being my guest in the dungeon.”

I didn’t want to press the Prince too much, but I had to know. “How long will that be for?”

Her eyes flashed as she studied me. She understood my attachment to Michael, but I knew she wouldn’t tolerate me pushing her. “As long as I want,” she replied stiffly.

I swallowed involuntarily. “Would it be all right if I went down there?”

Elvira was satisfied that I had been put in my place and relaxed again. “I don’t see why not. I’m basically waiting. I heard Antonio is coming?”

“Yes. My sister informed me.”

“And how is Christina?” she asked pointedly. I figured she had already been told about what happened to Christina.

“Um. She is fine. She is recuperating.”

“I understand it will be a few days.”

“Yes.” My eyes were on the floor again.

“Accidents happen,” she replied dismissively. “She’ll be fine and that’s all that matters. I understand she’s had a chance to speak to Jason Kline.”

“I haven’t talked to her about it. I just checked in on her and showered. I was a little messy.”

“I believe that most of us were.”

“Well then, by your leave I will go and speak with Michael.”

“Of course,” she said with a small wave. “Just keep in mind that he is to be kept in the cell.”

“Is it all right if I enter?”

“Yes. Don’t go in armed,” she warned.

“I won’t.”

**~*~*~*~*~**

I headed downstairs to the dungeon where I handed my PPK to the waiting ghoul. “I’m here to see Mr. Moorecock.”

“He is in the corner cell there,” the ghoul said, and I started down the corridor.

I looked through the one-way mirror in the door to Michael’s cell and found that he was staring at it expectantly. It must have been the bond of love we shared that told him I was so near. I laid my hand and the palm indicator and heard the door unlock, then turned the knob and entered. I shut the door behind me and once again put my hand on the indicator to lock it.

Michael was right behind me when I turned around. I tried to put distance between us, but my back was already pressed to the door and Michael seemed a bit shocked at my reaction.

He stepped forward, closing what little distance there was between us, as if he were going to take me into his arms. I managed to raise my hands, palms to him, and said, “P-please. Please don’t do that.”

“Don’t do what?” he asked, trying to take my hand, but I edged around him to walk further into the room. “Don’t touch you?”

“Yes,” I breathed with my back to him still.

“Why?”

“Things have changed, Michael.”

“Yeah, I’m back and things are the way they’re supposed to be.”

I couldn’t believe that he thought it was that simple. “You can’t expect to just step back into your role again without there being some consequences.”

He frowned slightly, his blue eyes dancing with mischief. “I can’t step back into my life?”

“You can step back into your life,” I assured him. “You just can’t step back into mine.”

“This is exactly what I expected.”

“What did you expect?” I could feel Michael behind me and the need to go to him was strong.

“Well, I didn’t expect such coldness from you,” he said in surprise. “That’s not the relationship we had.”

I turned to him then. Michael was acting like this was our first discussion since his return. “Do you retain any of the memories of the conversation we had at Guilty Pleasures?”

“Yes,” he said simply.

“Just checking.”

“Brenda,” Michael started. “I know that I was gone, and that it took me some time to get used to the idea of you being a vampire, but once I got used to the thought it was too late. The Sabbat pack had me and there was nothing I could do for a year.”

“You were gone for two years,” I pointed out. He wasn’t lying, but it was hard to change the way I had looked at Michael’s desertion. Even though he had been used by the Sabbat, it didn’t make up for the time he was willingly gone from my life. If he hadn’t left, maybe he wouldn’t ever have been taken by them. Did he ever stop to think of that?

“Did you expect me to get over it in a day or two?” Both of our voices were growing louder now.

“Did you expect me to just wait?” I countered.

“Yes,” Michael replied simply. “We love each other, Brenda.”

“Do you have any idea what it’s been like for me since you left? I didn’t know where you were, if you were dead or alive. Oh sure, I got your roses every few months, conveniently they arrived right about the time I had made up my mind to move on. But what did they mean other than they represented your love, beautiful and sweet while they lasted, but they died after a while?”

“My love for you has never died, Brenda,” Michael insisted as he took a tentative step closer. “And I would have come to you if I’d had the chance to. As a matter of fact, I did. Don’t you remember seeing me in t-that body at the bar?”

“Yeah,” I said holding my ground. “I remember. But I didn’t know it was you.”

He turned his head away from me and closed his eyes as if I had struck him. I understood how hard it was for Michael to realize he had lost, but he always held out for a back door. “But it was. I came to you at the first chance I could. I knew you were there, Brenda. I could feel you.”

“There was something about you too, but I couldn’t tell what.” It was difficult for me to admit that. This was the man I had first given my heart to and there were feelings for him that I would never share with anyone else, including Rafe. That didn’t mean I was willing to give Michael another opportunity to trample my heart again, though.

He took a step toward me and I fell back. “Things have changed, Michael. I can’t…I can’t do this.”

Michael stopped and regarded my quizzically. “What are you saying? That you don’t love me?”

“I will always care for you,” was all I was willing to admit.

His eyes narrowed before saying, “That’s an evasion. Either you love me, or you don’t Brenda. I know I still love you. And I believe you still love me.”

“Things are different,” I reasoned as I took a few steps away and crossed my arms over my chest. “You will always have a special place in my life, but…I can’t-I just can’t do this.” Tears started to fill my eyes.

“Can’t do it or won’t?” The hardness of his voice was back.

“I’ve made commitments that I’m not about to break.”

Now Michael crossed his arms over his own chest. “So, your puppy means more to you than I do?”

“That’s not fair,” I replied coldly.

“Brenda, this whole thing isn’t fair,” Michael pointed out.

“Yes. But it’s by your design isn’t it?”

He ran a hand roughly through his hair. “I told you I tried to get back to you. And I did as soon as I could.”

“You didn’t have to leave in the first place.” Unfortunately, I knew Michael didn’t understand my doubts and we had reached an impasse.

“I tried to explain to you Brenda, what it meant to me to see you become like me.” Michael was visibly upset now. “How much it hurt me to see you like that and to know that your humanity was gone. Just like mine is.”

“But it’s not,” I replied with a hopeful look on my face. “There is good that we can do.”

“Don’t be naïve,” Michael scoffed in disbelief. “We’re monsters. Beasts. We feed from life.”

“But we don’t take it,” I said almost desperately. “We don’t have to take it like the Sabbat.” Why didn’t he see that? I looked at being a vampire as having a precious gift. I was able to do things now that I had never been able to do as a human. I could save people from evil and help others find their potential in life. Michael had seen the dark side that lurked out there. I thought that maybe he could see these things easier than I could.

Michael was studying me speculatively. “Tell me you’ve never taken pleasure in killing.”

“I haven’t,” I said with certainty, knowing that if I ever did it was the time to end my existence. “There are certain things that have to be done.”

“And you don’t get a certain satisfaction when those things need to be done?” he pressed.

“Like all life on this planet, it is survival of the fittest. If you’re domain is threatened, like the wolf, you have to protect what is yours,” I said thinking of the Michael I had met in the other world. And with thoughts of that man came thoughts of the children he and his Brenda had created together. “And I have found a new hope that gives me reason to end the atrocities of this world, even though it will have no effect on them.”

Michael’s brow creased in confusion. “What, has this guy given you new hope?”

“Him partially, but I have met some extraordinary people in the last forty-eight hours that give me hope to cling to.” My hand moved to cover the pocket where I had put the pictures of Anna and Brenna.

“Maybe you could share with me and we can both have hope,” he said mockingly.

“I don’t know if you would look at it the same way I do.” I pulled the pictures of the girls from my pocket and he regarded me strangely as I held them out to him.

Michael took it and looked at it before asking, “Who is this?”

“Do you have any idea what your friends did to us?”

His eyes returned to mine with a look of disgust. “They weren’t my friends.”

“Do you know what they did to us?” I asked again.

Those blue orbs never left mine and it turned my stomach in knots. “I have no idea,” he replied.

“We were switched with ourselves from an alternate reality, dimension, whatever you want to call it. I was traded with the Brenda of that world. Bruce was switched. Christina was switched.”

“Christina’s here?” Michael asked in surprise.

“Yes. She’s here.”

“I knew Jason was here.” Michael shook his head as his chuckled slightly. “He’s still the same cocky son-of-a-bitch he always was.” His gaze once again fell to the picture in his hand.

“While we were there, I met the you from that world.”

“Really?” He glanced from the picture to me, waiting for a further explanation.

“Those are his children.”

“He has children?” he asked in a small voice. “Then he’s not…”

“No.” I said as I began to walk around the room. “He’s a werewolf,” I said with an ironic laugh.

Michael went to the cot and sat down. “He’s a werewolf and he has children,” he said more to himself than me. “Are they werewolves, too?”

“Things work differently there,” I explained. “He was bitten. He is a college professor and he was bitten one evening on campus and I guess that’s how it happened.”

Michael looked at me and said sorrowfully, “Things aren’t too different then. He was bit and made a beast much like I was. Are they from before or after he became a beast?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “I really don’t know.” The conversation was beginning to feel weird. Here we were suddenly talking about things like nothing was ever wrong between us.

“So. Dare I ask who the mother is?” The look he gave me told me he already had a guess.

I smile slightly and said, “Let’s just say that he was anxious to get her back.”

“He didn’t marry Christina, did he?” Michael teased with a boyish grin.

“No.” I laughed out loud and he joined me.

“That would leave you,” he said, and I nodded slightly. “We were married and had children,” Michael continued as he studied the picture and for once he was stunned.

I walked around the room some more, needing to move. “She is a hunter in that world,” I told him, but he wasn’t listening.

When Michael finally looked at me again his eyes were full of amazement. Tears were in both our eyes. “And did she get back to him?”

I nodded. “As far as I know. I came back here, so she must be back there.”

“This just proves my point,” Michael said as he stood again. “We were meant to be together. How can you deny that?”

“Michael,” I began in a tired voice, “I don’t want to hurt you, but I just can’t go back to that.”

“Why not?”

“You would want me to live with the knowledge that at any time you could get it in your head that I needed time to adjust to something else and leave again?” God, he was so pigheaded at times.

“Have you adjusted to being a vampire?” he asked quietly. He was once again moving closer as if he were stalking me.

I held my ground. I couldn’t let Michael know how much his presence still affected me. “I think I have.”

“Then why would I get that in my head?” He stopped where he was.

“Any number of things could crop up. You’ve left once and you could leave again.”

“I didn’t leave,” he pointed out. “I gave you some space.”

“You left when I wanted you to be there the most.”

“And now the tables have turned.”

“Michael, I wanted to be with you-”

He cut me off. “I want to be with you now.”

“-I wanted to be an equal partner,” I continued. “And I understood that you didn’t want to embrace me. I understand that now more than ever. I wanted you, Michael. Not ‘what if’s’ or ‘could have beens’. I will always be eternally grateful to Antonio for the gift he gave me.”

“Well I can’t say the same.” Michael regarded me a moment before adding, “The embrace has changed you.”

My chin went up defiantly. “I don’t think it has.”

“If you can deny what we feel for each other, then you have changed.”

I turned away from him. “You don’t know how hard this is, but I have to take into consideration what could happen. I can’t just walk away from my life here to go away with you.”

“So, I’ll come here.”

“No.” I shook my head with my back still turned to him. “It’s beyond that now.”

“Only if you make it that way.” His voice held a trace of desperation.

“Things have changed.” Regret filled my thoughts.

“Yes,” Michael replied sarcastically. “You have Rafael.”

I reeled to face Michael and pointed a finger in his direction. “My relationship with Rafe is none of your business. You gave up any right to question my actions when you left.”

Michael’s hands went up in fake surrender. “I wasn’t questioning your actions, just stating a fact. Maybe I was wrong about your feelings for me.”

I took the chance and crossed to Michael and put my hand on his cheek. “I will always care for you, but it’s just been too long.”

Before I knew what was happening, Michael pulled me into his arms and his mouth locked on mine. I was lost in the familiarity of Michael’s lips as his tongue pushed past my lips and merged with my own. I reacted like someone drunk with lust as my tongue began to battle with his and my hands started to move up his chest.

Then Rafe’s face popped in my mind and I pulled back quickly. “I-I’m sorry,” I stuttered as my hand covered my mouth and I stepped away from him. “I-I can’t let this happen.”

“Why not?” Michael challenged as he took a step toward me, then stopped. “Oh, let me guess, Rafael.” I was beginning to hate the way he said Rafe’s name.

I pulled the pictures from Michael’s hand and looked down at them. “I’m so sorry.” I turned and went to the door. I placed my hand on the pad and allowed it to scan my print.

I didn’t immediately open the door after the mechanism had finished. Without looking at Michael, I said, “I’m sure Elvira doesn’t intend on keeping you here forever. Once you’re free to go, I hope you stay in Salem if you choose. My sire will be here soon and I’m sure the two of you will have much catching up to do. I hope to go back to my house soon. Perhaps you could visit.”

Michael didn’t answer. I turned for one last glance and found that he was only regarding me intently. I opened the door as I slipped the photographs back in my pocket.

Michael’s eyes moved past me, and a cocky grin spread on his face. I turned back to the hallway and found that Rafe was standing there. I didn’t know how long he had been standing there or how much he had overheard, and dread filled my being.

Rafe didn’t look happy. I smiled at him, but he was looking over my shoulder at Michael with murder in his eyes. I hoped he didn’t decide to enter the room and try to fight with Michael.

“Brenda,” I heard from behind me and I turned. “When you get tired of the boy you know how to find a man.”

My eyes narrowed on Michael over my shoulder before I spoke. I had tried to be kind to him during this visit, but he had stepped too far. “Michael, I always knew you were one to get what you wanted, but I never realized what an ass you could be.” I didn’t give him a chance to respond. I walked out and shut the door behind me, then engaged the lock.


	19. Happily Ever After…

_Did I disappoint you?_   
_Or leave a bad taste in your mouth?_   
_ U2 - One_

Rafe had moved back enough to allow me out and stayed behind me as I relocked the door. I was terrified to think about what was going through his mind and exhaled before turning to face him. I checked Rafe’s aura to see where I stood, and the colors swirled fiercely. He was suspicious, angry, afraid and confused. But I found courage in the fact that love and desire rotated with the other emotions. Perhaps there was hope.

Rafe didn’t say anything, just put his hand protectively on the small of my back and gestured toward the stairs where we stopped to retrieve my gun.

I knew our impending conversation was going to be a doosey, so we went directly to our suite on the second floor. We moved silently with Rafe’s hand still at the small of my back, but it held no love as was customary. Once inside, I saw that Sarah’s story was still on the table and I went to it and started fingering the stack of paper, not sure what to say.

What exactly had he seen?

Rafe began removing his guns as well as the ones I had made him take earlier. He put his in the drawer of the bedside table and mine on top. He hung his jacket in the closet and the figure eight on its hook.

My mind was racing. By his reaction I was sure Rafe had seen Michael’s kiss and I was terrified about what he was thinking. As far as I knew the subject of Rafe’s jealously over Michael was dealt with and buried, but I also realized that seeing me and Michael locked in each other’s arms could break down everything he and I had built.

Rafe was removing his shirt now and putting it in the hamper. Next his shoes, that he placed on a rack in the bottom of the closet. He was doing everything he normally did when preparing for bed, only this time there was the deadly silence. His socks and pants joined the shirt in the hamper before he went into the bathroom where he turned on the shower. He didn’t look at me once.

I let him have his shower. I figured he was really pissed and that he needed time to calm down. I removed my own jacket, then sat down at the table to wait and tried to figure out what to say. When Rafe stepped out of the shower he was clean shaven and had pulled a towel around his waist. I watched him move to the sink and pull a comb through his hair.

He entered the bedroom again and put on a pair of flannel pajama bottoms and a white tank top. He put the towel back in the bathroom and when he came back, he went to the bed and grabbed the remote and turned on the TV in the wall. Fifteen to twenty minutes had passed by then and my nerves were stretched to their limits. I had never seen Rafe this defiant and I was worried.

I cleared my throat in an effort to get his attention. Rafe glanced over his shoulder at me briefly before returning his gaze to the screen. Not knowing what else to do I stood as Rafe pointed the remote at the screen and started to channel surf. I deliberately put the chair under the table and approached the bed. The closer I got the quicker the channels clicked by.

I moved to stand between Rafe and the television. Before he could say or do anything, I took the remote from him and turned to shut the TV off. I was over the silent treatment and determined we were going to talk.

Rafe in turn rolled on the bed to lean against the headboard and grabbed a book that was on the table. He didn’t realize that when he opened it the book was upside down. I did.

“So exactly how long were you down there and what did you see?” I asked finally. He didn’t reply just pretended the read the upside-down book. “Rafe,” I prodded.

“Yeah.” His eyes didn’t leave the page.

“Put the book down.” Rafe turned a page before he looked up at me. Then he put the still open book on the bedside table where it promptly fell to the floor. I fought the urge not to smile. I was standing with my hands on my hips much like a teacher about to chastise the class. “How long were you down there?” I repeated.

“You mean downstairs?” He sounded so flip. “Not very long.”

“How long is not very long?”

“A few minutes.”

“What did you see?”

He shrugged and said noncommittally, “The hallway. The cell. You and Michael.”

“Is that all? It’s not what you’re acting like.”

Rafe rolled off the bed and went to the French doors that led to the balcony. He opened the one on the right and stood there, looking out to the sea. I started to walk up behind Rafe and the closer I got to him the straighter he stood. When I was close enough, I stopped and stood to his left.

“In all honesty, Michael kissed me, and it took me by surprise,” I whispered, looking out the open door like Rafe was. “I was shocked, and it took me a minute to pull back, but I did. And I would have told you if you weren’t there.” His left hand was on the other door and he was fingering the curtain there. I put my right hand on his waistband and stepped closer. I wasn’t touching him in any other way, but Rafe went deathly still. “Rafe, do you believe me?”

“I don’t have any reason not to,” he replied evenly.

“So why aren’t you looking at me?” my voice cracked a little.

Rafe glanced at me over his shoulder then turned and took a step back, breaking the small contact of my hand on his waist. He didn’t meet my eyes. I dropped my hand and breathed out. He didn’t believe me. I turned away and went into the bathroom with my arms crossed in front of me. I had no idea what to do now. I went to the sink and washed my hands very vigorously, needing to do something even that mundane.

I heard Rafe moving around in the bedroom and it sounded like he was in the closet. I quickly rinsed my hands, shut off the water and waited. He was definitely in the closet. It sounded like he was getting dressed.

I went and stood in the doorway to the bedroom. I couldn’t see him because the closet was next to the bathroom, so I went to stand by the closet door. Rafe had pulled on a pair of jeans and socks and had just picked up a gym shoe.

“Where are you going?” I asked, trying to hide my panic. I wanted to grab the shoe and hold it away from him.

“For a walk.”

“Isn’t it late?”

Rafe shrugged. “It’s only ten.”

“Why aren’t you talking to me about this?” I felt tears in my eyes and blinked them away. They wouldn’t help now.

“Didn’t think you wanted to talk about it,” he replied cryptically without looking at me.

“What makes you think I didn’t want to talk about it?”

He glanced at me quickly before turning away again and pulling on the gym shoe. “Because we’ve had this conversation and there’s no reason to have it again.”

“So, what does that mean?” Panic was continuing to mount, and I had to fight hard to suppress it.

“It means that we’ve had this argument, Brenda, and there’s no way to resolve it.” Rafe bent over to retrieve the other shoe.

“So, what do you think you’re going to do?”

“I’m going to take a walk. Then I’m going to come back, get ready for bed and sleep.” Both shoes were on now, but I didn’t understand why he felt he had to go anywhere.

“I thought we had reached a decision about this discussion.”

“We have,” Rafe confirmed.

“What does that mean?”

“That we agreed not to have this conversation anymore,” he said as he turned to look at me. There was a hard edge to his voice I had never heard before. “That we were done with it.”

“But obviously we’re not.”

“I don’t have a problem with it.”

Yeah, right.

“You’re not acting like it.”

“What am I acting like?”

“You’re acting like you did before.” He reached to pull out a shirt and I moved into the closet as well and put my hand on his to stop him. Our faces were as close as they could get, given the height difference. “Do you have any idea how hard all of this has been for me?” I asked.

“Maybe you should tell me,” he ground out as if he didn’t believe me. “What part has been hard for you?”

“I thought he was gone. I thought I wouldn’t have to worry about him anymore and then he pops up again.” I didn’t let up an inch. “I thought I could go on with my life. Then I met someone that I care a lot about and want to build something lasting with and Michael shows up again out of the blue. We get flipped to an alternate reality where I find that not only are they married, but also, they have kids and their both human and everything is hunky dory. I worry about your every reaction to things and…and t-this isn’t the easiest thing in the world for me to deal with.” Tears were in my eyes again and I fought hard not to let them spill out. “He thinks he can just step back into the role that he had two years ago. And he can’t.”

Rafe was looking at our hands that were on his shirt, then turned to face me. “This has been hard for you?” he asked with a choke in his voice. “You want me to trust you and I’m trying so hard, Brenda. But when I see you kiss him, what am I supposed to think? I know you told me you don’t want to be with him. That you want to be with me. But what am I supposed to think when I see you in his arms like that?” The dam had finally broken but I wasn’t sure if it was going to help.

“I told you what happened. Don’t you believe me?” If Rafe’s trust in me was gone then we were through. Thank God he said the only thing I wanted to hear.

“I believe you,” he said quietly. “That doesn’t make it hurt any less.”

My temper got the better of me. I felt like Rafe was playing both sides like he was the only one with something to lose in this relationship. “Well, you know what? At least all you have to worry about is Michael.” Rafe blinked and looked at me in surprise, but I continued. “Every time we go somewhere, I have to worry about whether you’re looking at every man that we come across and if you’re missing something that you had before.”

Rafe continued to look at me in confusion, but I went ahead. “I worry when you talk to Jax…a-and, well, at least all you have to worry about is Michael.” I turned and walked to the table where I grabbed a chair back to ground myself.

“What are you talking about?” he asked astonished. I hadn’t meant to confess my insecurities about his interest in men. That had nothing to do with our relationship, but it still lurked in the back of my mind.

The wood of the chair began to creak under my clenched hands. I was so mad I was shaking. I couldn’t respond when he too stepped away from the closet and stared at me. “I have never given you cause to believe I have ever looked twice at anyone else,” Rafe said. “Jesus, I haven’t looked at anyone else.”

I was fighting for control. It was really hard to let him see how vulnerable I was about this subject. “Do you really think that I need anything more than you?” he asked. “Do you think you’re not enough for me?”

My head jerked up. “How am I supposed to know that?” I asked.

“I show you every day,” Rafe replied with conviction. “Aren’t you the one I come home with? The one I sleep with? The one I love?” His voice broke and he turned away.

“Yeah, the one who’s going to walk out.” It was so hard to be this vulnerable in front of him. I had always tried to be the strong one so that I could protect Rafe.

“I was just going for a walk,” Rafe replied astonished. The chair under my hands creaked again as blood tears filled my eyes. “Brenda, I would never leave you.”

I couldn’t hold back the tears anymore and broke down into gasping sobs. I tried to admonish myself for being so weak, but I had lost all control. I had never cried so much in my entire life as I had in the past three weeks. Rafe had a way of stripping away all the barriers that I had established since I was a child. He made me be just me, Brenda, and I didn’t think I could handle being this much out of control. I sounded pitiful as sobs raked my body and I doubled over the back of the chair.

I felt Rafe’s hand on my back and I heard the tears in his voice as he spoke. “Brenda I would never leave you. Even if I wanted to I couldn’t. I don’t want to.”

“I need you so much,” I choked out.

“Not half as much as I need you.”

I straightened, and his arms wrapped around me, pulling me to him so we touched from shoulders to knees. He buried his face in my hair as my arms covered his and we just held on to each other. I turned my head to his and our cheeks touched. We both babbled how much we loved and needed each other. “I’m afraid he’ll take you away,” Rafe said. “If anyone could, it would be him and that’s what scares me.”

“Don’t worry,” I told him. “You’re what I want. What I need.”

“I saw you together and I just wanted to kill him. You made me promise not to try anything and I just - ”

We stood there for a while longer, holding each other and continuing to let the other know how much we meant to each other. “I didn’t mean for you to be hurt -”

“Shh,” he said and turned me in his arms. He kissed me passionately then and molded our bodies together. My arms went up and around his neck as the merging of our lips and tongues continued the conversation of how much we loved each other.

Rafe eventually pulled his head back and licked the blood tears that lingered on my cheeks. I smiled at him as my fingers found their way into his hair and he pulled me to the bed.

“I love you,” I said while Rafe’s fingers pushed up under my shirt.

“And I love you,” he replied and pulled the shirt up and over my head. “Let me show you how much.”

I nodded, and we quickly pulled each other’s clothes off and threw them around the room. “I want to taste you,” I panted as my fangs dropped and our mouths connected again.

Rafe groaned like an animal and together we knelt on the bed. I pierced first my tongue, then his, and we allowed our blood to mingle a little before drinking at the same time.

We melted down on the bed as one and gave ourselves over to the passion we shared. Our lovemaking was incredible. We both reached new heights in pleasure and when we were done and lay spent in each other’s arms I came to realize how close I had been to loosing this incredible man. I wanted to make sure I never came that close again.

“How does a September wedding sound?” I asked as Rafe ran his fingers up and down my back. He had pulled me to his side after we had finished, and my arm was now draped over his chest.

His fingers stopped. “What are you saying?” he asked.

I lifted my head and looked down at the man who had changed my life. “That I love you with all my heart and that I can’t wait to be Mrs. Rafael Brown.”

Rafe’s face erupted with happiness as he pulled my head down and he kissed me thoroughly. “In that case,” he said after our lips parted, “September isn’t soon enough to make you mine, but I guess it will have to do.”

“We already belong to each other,” I told him as I lowered my head once again and knew my happiness was assured for now and forever. 

_These arms of mine are open wide_   
_from now until the end of time_   
_\- Backstreet Boys -_   
_Back To Your Heart_


	20. Epilogue

_The movie’s over – fade to black_   
_ Meatloaf - Life is a Lemon and I Want My Money Back_

###  _One year later_

“If you don’t hold still, I’m going to stab your head,” Christina scolded good-naturedly as she put in the remaining hairpins that would secure the jeweled headpiece in my hair.

“Sorry,” I replied in a low voice as I studied my reflection in the vanity mirror. What I saw was an incredibly frightened version of myself and I was surprised when my fingers shook a little as I smoothed the white fabric of my skirt. “Are you sure this dress is okay?”

My sister chuckled as she tucked the last curl into place. “Well it’s a little too late now, don’t you think? Rafe’s probably waiting for us by now.”

My stomach fluttered a little when Christina said his name. In just a few minutes I would be Mrs. Rafael Brown and I couldn’t stop the worries that once again ran through my mind. Were we doing the right thing? I loved Rafe with all my heart, but marriage and a vampire didn’t usually fit in the same sentence.

Christina seemed happy enough. Next month would mark the one-year anniversary of her and Jason’s wedding and they had adjusted fine; she had even managed to keep Frasier around without too many fights between the two men.

“Hey, are you all right?” she asked me. We were alone for now in the upstairs room where the girls were all getting ready. Sarah had gone down to see to the final details and Samantha was checking on Rafe.

I looked around the room and smiled, thinking that Micky had bought this house because Rafe had wanted a beach wedding. The Wheadon Estate was a large beautiful house that had been for sale at the time. Now Micky and Sarah lived here instead of at the Jesters.

“Brenda,” Christina laid her hand on my shoulder and our eyes met in the glass. “Are you okay?”

“Just nervous, I think,” I laughed tensely, but held her gaze. “I’m doing the right thing right?”

Her brow furrowed as she studied my features. “Of course, you are. You love him, don’t you?”

“With all my heart,” I confided. “I just needed to hear someone else say it.”

“Is this about the package you received earlier?” she asked.

My eyes closed at the thought of the gift that Michael had sent. Like clockwork over the past year he had reminded me he still wanted to be a part of my life. He had sent potted red roses at Christmas and at Valentine’s Day, even one on my birthday. Rafe took it all in stride, but tried to outdo the simple yet perfect gestures of Michael’s affection.

For the wedding Michael had sent a beautiful rose pin made from rubies, diamonds and emeralds. It wasn’t gaudy or extravagant just in Michael’s own way perfect. The note was simple as well:

_My love will never die. When you are ready, I will find you._

_M_

Rafe didn’t know about it yet and I wasn’t going to tell him, either.

I stood and went to the overnight bag I had brought with me and pulled out the small jeweler’s box, then handed it to my sister. She opened it and gaped. “Oh, gosh. This is beautiful. Where did you get it?” She studied me intently.

“Michael sent it.”

“Ooooh.” Christina didn’t hide her look of shock. “This guy just doesn’t give up, does he? Does Rafe know about this?”

“No, and I don’t want him to know about it. Will you take it back to the house with you?”

Christina shrugged her shoulders. “Yeah, but what do you want me to do with it?”

“Just put it in one of the desk drawers in my study.” The door opened then, and Samantha walked in carrying her three-month-old son, Brendan Rafael McLean. Christina side stepped over to her own bag and safely tucked the box inside it before my soon to be sister-in-law could see it.

My heart lifted at the sight of the little boy. Right after all the hoopla the Sabbat had caused died down some of Rafe’s friends from New York had come to visit. One of them had been Alexander James a.k.a. AJ McLean, a very well-known horror writer like Stephen King and Dean Koontz. He and Samantha had fallen in love and after a long hard road were now married themselves. Brendan was born in June and all three have lived happily ever after together. That, however, was another story.

“Hey, how’s my favorite boy?” I asked as I went over to Samantha and tickled the baby under the chin.

“Dry for now,” Samantha scoffed happily as she handed him over to me. “Thank God he didn’t do a number while I was changing him.” In an effort to make sure she was right, Samantha looked down and studied her corral bridesmaid dress to ensure she hadn’t suffered any damage from changing her son. She was beautiful. Married life suited her perfectly.

“Everything okay downstairs?” I asked, remembering myself what damage babies could do not only to their own clothes, but also to everyone else’s. I had trashed many shirts after Brendan had been born, but he was perfect, so I didn’t care. Now however, I was in my wedding dress and took great care while I played with him.

“Everyone is ready when you are,” Samantha announced. “Antonio wanted me to tell you he would be up in a moment.”

“That’s fine,” I said as Brendan shoved his fingers in his mouth. I pulled them out, so I could kiss his cheek and asked Samantha, “Who’s going to watch him during the ceremony?” AJ was one of Rafe’s groomsmen along with his other friend, Howie Dorough, and his cousin, Brian Littrell. Christina, Sarah and Samantha were my bridesmaids and that didn’t leave many mortals to look after Brendan. Not that AJ or Samantha had an aversion to vampires, but most vampires weren’t interested in babysitting.

“Corrine. She should be coming up to get him,” Samantha replied as the door opened again to allow Sarah and Antonio to walk into the room. Just before they could close it behind them, Corrine Wright appeared as well.

I smiled at my sire and went over to kiss his cheek. “Are you ready, childe?” Antonio asked positioning himself so that Brendan couldn’t reach him.

“Just about,” I told him. “We were just waiting for Corrine to come for Brendan.”

“I’m ready,” she said as I gave my namesake one last kiss and handed him to the girl. I had come to know Cormac and Eliza’s daughter very well over the last few months. Ever since she had begun dating Rafe’s cousin, Brian.

“I’m glad you could be here,” I told her, and she flashed a radiant smile.

“Thank you, Brenda. I’m glad to be included.”

Like so many of us, Corrine had dealt with a great deal in the past year after the Sabbat attack on the city. Like Samantha, she was a newly Awakened Mage, but she had also found out that the person she had spent her entire life looking up to as a good friend was actually her birth mother. Eliza had willingly entered into a contract with the Tremere Clan to protect her daughter and I had to commend her for that.

Now Eliza led a very different life. She had been reunited with Corrine’s father, Cormac Brennen and was now his ghoul. I didn’t think of her as badly as I had before. As it turned out Cormac and Christina shared the same sire and I found myself having to accept him into our family.

“Shall we begin?” Sarah asked, as Christina passed out bouquets. Corrine quickly ducked out of the room with Brendan as Antonio linked our arms together.

**~*~*~*~*~**

The beach had been set up with lit torches all around the perimeter of the area. White chairs made two rows on either side and small lanterns hung from hooks that made the aisle. Antonio’s arm was strong under my hand as we exited the back of the house.

“Nervous, childe?” he asked as his other hand covered mine.

I smiled up at his dark brown eyes. “A little, but I’ll be okay.”

Cormac’s nephew, Father Stephen Brennan, stood beneath a curved archway that had been decorated with green ivy and colorful flowers and a huge candelabrum had been erected behind him. The guests were standing so I couldn’t see Rafe yet, but I knew he stood not far from Stephen.

Thoughts of the conversation we had a few months ago came back to me about where Rafe and I were going to honeymoon. I had been sure he would have wanted to go to Europe and see the sights. I was shocked when Rafe had suggested that we go to Las Vegas, so he could meet my father. Dad was too sick to make the trip and I was sad but grateful at the same time. I wouldn’t have been able to do anything with him during the day and he would have asked questions I couldn’t answer.

My eyes scanned the group of people who had assembled for this event and saw so many friends and family. I could see Rafe’s Uncle Alec and Brian’s parents in the front row on one side and Elvira, Micky and Idella on the other with an empty chair for Antonio. They still didn’t understand Christina’s and my need to marry the men we loved, but they didn’t try to talk us out of it either.

Nina Rodriguez had come from Los Angeles and sat next to Cormac with Eliza on his other side. Corrine sat next to her mother with Brendan on her lap.

Jason, Frasier and Bruce sat in a neat row with Rachel Black there to keep an eye on them, so they didn’t get into trouble. In fact, all the members of the Black Rose Coven were in attendance. Word had spread throughout the ranks that Sarah was still ‘alive’ and well and old friendships were once again established to a certain degree.

I was trying to get a look at Rafe, but Christina was in the way. Then there he was. The guys had decided to forego the usual tuxedos because of our choice of venue. Instead, they opted for baggy khakis and loose-fitting white silk button-ups. At AJ’s suggestion they had also decided not to wear shoes, so I figured I would do the same with for the girls and myself. Everyone was comfortable and that was all that mattered.

Rafe had let his hair grow longer in the past year, but it was still short by other’s standards. He was just as anxious to see me as I was to see him, and our faces sprouted identical smiles simultaneously when we finally caught sight of each other. In his eyes I saw the love and happiness that I knew lived in my heart for him.

All the doubts I had about marrying Rafe escaped my mind as Antonio led me down the aisle and I knew that Rafe felt the same. I also knew that as a team we could overcome anything life decided to throw at us.

I wanted to run to him, so we could start our life together as soon as possible.

**Author's Note:**

> My gaming group has always played fast and loose with the White Wolf rules, including lots of things we see in various TV shows, movies and books. We were playing mostly in the late 1990s and early 2000s so we use/used the editions available at that time. 
> 
> We also threw all the 'By Night' rules out of the window and created our own rulers in our cities. Some of the cannon White Wolf characters may show up from time to time, but don't expect them to be like the books. 
> 
> I'll be separating these stories both by character and by city, so some stories may be listed under multiple Series under my profile here on AO3. 
> 
> If you're interested in learning more about our world 'After Dark' please visit my website at www.whendarknessfalls.net.


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